Critical Management Studies (CMS)

Dear CMS colleagues,

Apologies for cross posting.

We are seeking contributions (500 word abstracts) as part of our Symposium on Socioecological Leadership, Organisation, and Work (SLOW). The aim of our two-day event is to foster a critical, reflexive, and dialogic community of scholars engaging in innovative approaches to SLOW research and to forge ties with practitioners in these areas. 

In the face of pressing socioecological challenges, from climate destabilisation and biodiversity loss to inequality and alienation, momentum is gaining around the question of what socioecological transformation means for organisation, organisations, and organising.  

In response, several threads of scholarship are weaving together a tapestry of ideas in the interstices of organisation and management studies. Since Parker, Fournier, and Reedy's (2007) The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopia and Organization, a body of work is exploring alternative organisation/organising as a way to position various organisational forms and practices (e.g. co-operatives, slow food, ecovillages) against mainstream capitalist organisation (Parker et al, 2014; Reedy et al, 2016; Parker and Parker, 2017; Ehrnström-Fuentes and Biese, 2022). Simultaneously, established research on social enterprises (Mair et al, 2012) has turned towards 'eco-social' (Johanisová and Franková, 2013) and critical (Curtis et al, 2023) perspectives.  

Other rich literatures have emerged on degrowth/post-growth organisation (Banerjee et al, 2021; Vandeventer and Lloveras, 2021; Colombo et al, 2023), reconceptualising leadership from environmental (Case et al, 2015) or Indigenous perspectives (Gram-Hanssen, 2021), rethinking responsible innovation (De Saille et al, 2020; Owen et al, 2021; Pansera and Fressoli, 2021), and how work can be meaningful in a sustainable society (Foster, 2017; Lips-Wiersma, 2019). 

Together, these interdisciplinary counter-trends take seriously the need to examine what socioecological transformation means for organisation(s) and organising. There is also potential to further extend our insights into the socioecological futures of leadership, organisation, and work, including through such avenues as diverse economies (Gibson-Graham, 2006), doughnut economics (Raworth, 2017), commons/commoning (Peredo et al, 2020), prefigurative organising (Parker, 2021; Schiller-Merkens, 2022), ethics of care and feminist theories (Pullen and Rhodes, 2015), social ecology (Bookchin, 1982), the 'natural contract' (Serres, 1990), the socially generative economy, animal and interspecies studies (Wadham et al, 2022), and vegetal thinking (Lawrence, 2021), to name but a few. 

The Symposium therefore aims to develop new ideas in these areas and beyond. It will bring together scholars and practitioners to explore the transformational potential of SLOW-based research and practice in the domains of business, management, organisation studies and adjacent fields.  

Call for Contributions 

The symposium is explicitly dialogic, with a focus on encouraging a mutual exchange of ideas between attendees, senior academics, and practitioners, to support the crafting of ideas. 

A Paper Development Workshop (PDW) forms a central part of the symposium. We welcome research papers in various stages of development, from early stage ideas for research papers to well-developed papers. Submissions could address any of the themes outlined, and may focus on theoretical, methodological, and/or empirical questions related to SLOW research.  

Prospective participants are requested to submit an abstract of 500 words outlining their proposed contribution by 10 June 2024 via the registration form, accessible through this link. A 500-word abstract is sufficient for participation in the PDW. Participants discussing well-developed research are welcome to submit an extended abstract or even full paper by early July for constructive feedback. 

Details of the programme, including speakers 

The symposium will take place in-person at Manchester Metropolitan University from 18-19 July 2024. The first day will involve a paper development workshop for PhD students and ECRs, followed by a dinner. The second day will begin with a keynote by Professor Martin Parker, followed by dialogue-based panel discussions with both academics (including Professor Damian O'Doherty, Professor Liz Parsons, Professor Rajiv Maher, Dr Jenny Rodriguez, Dr Adrian Madden, Dr Emanuela Girei and Dr Laura Colombo) and practitioners (including representatives of a sustainability-oriented organisation, charity, worker co-operative, and others).  

A small number of bursaries will be available to support those without institutional funding. Bursaries will be allocated on a needs-based criteria. 

The SLOW symposium is organised by James Scott Vandeventer, Christiane Chihadeh, Jack Davis, Tom Davis, Laure Leglise, Kate Seymour, Olivia Tomlinson, and Mike Bull. 

Laure Leglise

Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Strategy and Sustainability

Department of Strategy, Enterprise and Sustainability I

Manchester Metropolitan University I Business School I