Post-colonial Theory and Organizational Analysis: A Critical Engagement
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Post-colonial Theory and Organizational Analysis: A Critical Engagement Anshuman Prasad Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2003, 320pp. ISBN: 0-312-29405-0. Asian Business & Management (2005) 4, 209–212. doi:10.1057/palgrave.abm.9200100
Critical theory as an established form of research paradigm has a long tradition in European academe. Most acknowledge Marx’s Das Capital as the point of departure, by placing the labour process at the centre of the study of capitalism. This brought new nutrients to the social sciences, providing unimaginable alternatives to the orthodox logical positivism. Nevertheless, logical positivism still deeply influences mainstream, especially American, philosophical dealings and ways of conducting academic research. Especially in the study of business management, this is shown by the fact that ‘critical management studies’, an institutionalized discipline in Europe, has only recently been given scant attention by a small group of American researchers at the Academy of Management. Also, the common perception in the United States is that critical management scholars are usually in the less core departments of management schools, and they exist in uncomfortable tension with their institutional surrounds, excluded from core curriculum decisions and major administrative posts (Zald, 2002). On the other hand, in Britain, critical theory has long penetrated various areas of business management. In the 1970s, we could already see scholars employing Michel Foucault’s archaeological or genealogical methods to study accounting. The movement developed rapidly and today we encounter a galaxy of avocations like post-modernism, feminism, reflexivity, and even gay and lesbian theory in the study of management. Also, critical management researchers are well recognized as avant-garde, leading the latest trend in knowledge inquiry and their work often appears in top European journals such as The Journal of Management Studies and Organization Studies. Born on the foundation of Marxism, critical theory and the above avocations cannot avoid revolutionary implications about the promotion of an action agenda to emancipate marginalized individuals or groups. The study of colonialism and post-colonial theory is a natural offspring of the critical theory movement. For example, using history and genealogical methods, studies involving accounting issues in former colonies frequently make a strong presence in prestigious journals such as Accounting, Organizations and Society. Now, moving from accounting to broader organizational analysis, Anshuman Prasad has, to our surprise and delight, joined forces with a group of mainly
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American-based scholars to bring us the present volume, which can be seen as an attempt to introduce this very fresh perspective to American ‘critters’, as well as to echo their distanced British counterparts. The volume represents the fruit of the inaugural Critical Management Studies Conference held at the University of Manchester. The 12 chapters address post-colonial engagement wi
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