A Theory of Imagination for Organization Studies Using the Work of Cornelius Castoriadis

Abstract

At a time when organizations are asked to imagine themselves anew in order to survive, organizational treatments of ‘imagination’ lack engagement with its profound political and generative nature. To address this gap, the paper draws on the works of Cornelius Castoriadis (1922–1997) and proposes a politically situated theory of imagination for organization studies. We build on Castoriadis’s core ideas of representation, signification and affect to develop a radical proposition: imagination is ‘where it all begins’, an inexhaustible psychosocial force driving organizations and organizing, and setting the institutionalization process in motion. To illustrate the great potential contributions of this proposition for organization studies, we discuss how three key persisting dualisms in organizational thinking, those between ‘representational’ and ‘non-representational’ inquiry, ‘body’ and ‘mind’, and between the ‘private’ and ‘public’, begin to dissolve when considered under our suggested framework. We then draw some important implications of Castoriadian imagination for charting alternative futures at times of economic and social crises, and identify some directions for future research.

Beyond the Stable Image of Institutions: Using Institutional Analysis to Tackle Classic Questions in Institutional Theory

“…The instituted/instituting dialectic originates in the work of Castoriadis (1992, 1997a, 1997b, 2007), who has recently though timidly been restored to favour by organization scholars seeking to advance our understanding of the critical role of creativity, imagination and the importance of affect in the constitution of psychosocial dynamics (De Cock et al 2013; Joas & Meyer, 1989; Komporozos-Athanasiou & Fotaki, 2015), the mechanisms underlying institutional fields (Fotaki, 2006; Picard, Steyer, Philippe, & Pérezts, 2017) and in bringing back the role of power (Leflaive, 1996), political engagement (Kokkinidis, 2015) and values in institutional dynamics (Klein, 2014). Another source of inspiration was the writings of Felix Guattari who is considered one the first post-modern organization theorists (Carter & Jackson, 2004), often associated with Gilles Deleuze and the so-called ‘French Theory’, best known among philosophy scholars interested in continental authors (Cohen & Lotringer, 2001; Cusset, 2003).…”

What Is (Business) Management? Laying the Ground for a Philosophy of Management

“…The normative, rather than descriptive nature of the last three dimensions is not at all problematic, as the development of new theories of imagination for management science is necessary to prevent that we remain intellectually imprisoned by the structures of its self-evident conceptualization (cf. Komporozos-Athanasiou and Fotaki 2015).…”

“…Instead of being hemmed in by the structures of its self-evident conceptuality, the task of philosophy of management is to develop new theories of imagination for management science (cf. Tsoukas and Cummings 1997;Komporozos-Athanasiou and Fotaki 2015;Deslandes 2018).…”

Spirituality, Symbolism and Storytelling in Twentyfirst-Century Organizations: Understanding and addressing the crisis of imagination

“…In an era characterized by the proliferation of populism and the normalization of xenophobia in political discourses and everyday life, the responses to the crises we face seem increasingly inadequate. We must deploy different forms of imagination collectively (Komporozos-Athanasiou & Fotaki, 2015) for radical re-imagining of current governance arrangements and ways of organizing.…”