Key Concepts in Critical Management Studies

Mark Tadajewski, Pauline Maclaran, Elizabeth Parsons, Martin Parker, Mark Tadajewski, Pauline Maclaran, Elizabeth Parsons, Martin Parker

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781849205696
  9781849205689
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781446243411
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

Ideal as an introduction and as a quick reference, Key Concepts in Critical Management Studies explores the essential concepts used within the field today. Specially edited and written by a range of international experts, key ideas are succinctly explained and illustrated beyond a simple definition. Further reading suggestions and cross-referencing provide the reader with means to develop their knowledge further.

With over 50 entries, from Actor Network Theory to Utopianism, readers have instant access and explanation of the most influential concepts in CMS literature. Clear and engaging, this will provide strong support for all courses involving critical management and is a perfect resource for anyone with an interest in this field.

Utopia and Utopianism

Pauline Maclaran

Definition: Utopia is a name for an ideal society; utopianism refers to social theory that envisages schemes of perfection. The terms are used in a colloquial sense to imply wishful fantasising.

The concept of ‘utopia’ was originally introduced into English society by Sir Thomas More in 1516 in his book that first described the ideal land of Utopia where people lived in harmony and happiness. Etymologically the word is a mixture of the Greek words ‘outopia’ (nowhere) and ‘eutopia’ (a good place), resulting in the intended pun of ‘nowhere being a good place’. As a literary form, More’s book was designed not only to entertain, but also to create a context in which More could offer a critique of existing society in a Tudor England where neither freedom of speech nor freedom of thought existed.

This seminal work by More gave birth to a whole literary genre that has spawned many diverse and imaginative visions of what the ideal society might be, a genre that has been traced back as far as Plato’s Republic (Manuel and Manuel, 1979). Being frequently visualised in terms of planning the ideal city, the concept of utopia has also permeated architectural theory and design. In particular, visions for urban reorganisation detailed by utopian socialists in the nineteenth century, such as Charles Fourier, Etienne Cabet and Robert Owen, have had a lasting impact on city planning. Fourier’s design of phalansteries (systems of communal living) had a direct influence on retail planning from the design of early arcades and department stores, through to the contemporary shopping mall.

Although it is the literary genre that people tend to associate most readily with the word utopia...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: What is Critical Management Studies?
• Accountability
• Aesthetics
• Alternative Organisation
• American Pragmatism
• Actor–Network Theory (ANT)
• Bureaucracy
• Business Ethics
• Capitalism and Anticapitalism
• Class
• Colonialism and Postcolonialism
• Commodity Fetishism
• Consumer Culture
• Corporate Social Reporting
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Corporation
• Critical Accounting
• Critical Human Resource Management
• Critical International Management
• Critical Marketing Studies
• Critical Realism
• Critical Theory
• Deconstruction
• Dialectics
• Discourse
• Environmentalism
• Feminism
• Gender
• Globalisation
• Governmentality
• Hegemony
• Hermeneutics
• Identity
• Ideology
• Immaterial Labour
• Labour Process Theory
• Managerialism
• Marxism and Post-Marxism
• Materiality
• McDonaldisation
• Neoliberalism
• Paradigm
• Political Economy
• Postmodernism
• Poststructuralism
• Power
• Queer Theory
• Reflexivity
• Sexuality
• Subjectivity and Subjectivation
• Surveillance
• Utopia and Utopianism