Theorizing Resistance in Organization Studies

Abstract

This article provides an overview and critique of the extant research on work-place resistance. It argues that much of this research has developed around an implicit duality of resistance and control. In other words, critical studies have highlighted either the growing ubiquity and subtlety of managerial control or have privileged workers’ abilities to carve out spheres of autonomy within these control mechanisms. It suggests that, in contrast to this implicit dualism of control and resistance, a dialectical approach better captures the notion of resistance and control as mutually constitutive, and as a routine social production of daily organizational life.

On the Problem of Participation in Strategy: A Critical Discursive Perspective

“…By bringing up both kinds of discourses, our analysis helps us to understand the internal tensions in strategy that easily pass unnoticed. In our view, these tensions are examples of competing paradigms (Mumby 2004(Mumby , 2005) that characterize the strategy field and should be taken seriously in research as well as practice.…”

“…On the contrary, we argue that one can often distinguish alternative discourses that provide very different means for making sense of and giving sense to strategy and the roles that social actors are expected to play. In fact, these discourses can coexist in a dialectical relation where more dominant discourses are challenged by alternative ones (e.g., Mumby 2004Mumby , 2005.…”

Mental Heath as a Weapon: Whistleblower Retaliation and Normative Violence

“…Foucault's theoretical account, while insightful, is limited in its ability to illuminate the specific dynamics of subjectification, on what happens at the level of the subject's psyche when they engage with power (Mumby 2005;Newton 1998), or as Roberts (2005) describes, the moment 'in which subjectivity becomes "inextricably entwined" with power/ knowledge' (Roberts 2005, p. 620). Foucault's account is also critiqued for ignoring affect in such dynamics (Hook 2007).…”

The abolition of the General Teaching Council for England and the future of teacher discipline

“…From a wider sociological point of view, these categorisations can perhaps be more appropriately considered organisational misbehaviour (Vardi and Weitz, 2004;Ackroyd and Thompson, 1999) and therefore more closely aligned to misconduct. From a more critical perspective, such behaviours could also be interpreted within the dialectic of control and resistance (Mumby, 2005): failure to follow policies could well be an example of routine resistance (Scott, 1985;Collinson, 1988;Prasad and Prasad, 1998;Fleming and Sewell, 2002) in a managerialist workplace. The point is that under the reforms such issues will be in the hands of headteachers rather than considered by an independent panel of peers.…”