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Chapter 15 Searching for Transformative Potential: Comparing Conceptualizations of Open, Inclusive and Alternative Organizations

  • Laura Dobusch , Leonhard Dobusch and Katharina Kreissl
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The Handbook of Organizing Economic, Ecological and Societal Transformation
This chapter is in the book The Handbook of Organizing Economic, Ecological and Societal Transformation

Abstract

In this chapter, we analyze scholarly approaches that explicitly imagine organizations as capable of ‘doing good’ and investigate which answers they give to the urgent need of stimulating socio-ecological transformations. We compare three streams of literature on open, inclusive and alternative organizations. We define the transformative potential of these approaches as related to ideas of (1) de-/postgrowth and other alternatives to profit-oriented organizing; and of (2) making room for historically disadvantaged and particularly marginalized groups at the organizational power table. In our conclusion, we argue that the scale of transformative change needed asks scholars to transgress commonly separated camps of scholarship and, thus, to eclectically engage with all three organizational approaches to organize for socio-ecological transformations. At the same time, this requires challenging institutionalized underpinnings of how we organize scholarship as such.

Abstract

In this chapter, we analyze scholarly approaches that explicitly imagine organizations as capable of ‘doing good’ and investigate which answers they give to the urgent need of stimulating socio-ecological transformations. We compare three streams of literature on open, inclusive and alternative organizations. We define the transformative potential of these approaches as related to ideas of (1) de-/postgrowth and other alternatives to profit-oriented organizing; and of (2) making room for historically disadvantaged and particularly marginalized groups at the organizational power table. In our conclusion, we argue that the scale of transformative change needed asks scholars to transgress commonly separated camps of scholarship and, thus, to eclectically engage with all three organizational approaches to organize for socio-ecological transformations. At the same time, this requires challenging institutionalized underpinnings of how we organize scholarship as such.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Contributors IX
  4. Part One: By Way of Introduction
  5. Chapter 1 Organizing Economic, Environmental and Societal Transformation: An Introduction 1
  6. Chapter 2 Transformation: For Whom, By Whom, Where, Why and When? 27
  7. Part Two: Opening Up Futures
  8. Chapter 3 Post-anthropocentric Transformations of Consumption in the Anthropocene: Beyond the Nature-Culture Divide 49
  9. Chapter 4 ‘Organising Social Impact’ Master’s Programme as ‘Critical Praxis’ to Transform the University and Society 69
  10. Chapter 5 Futures: Necessity, Experiment and the School for Organizing 87
  11. Part Three: Techno-economic Transformations at Work
  12. Chapter 6 The Social Construction of Digital Technologies: The Politics behind Technology-centered Transformations 103
  13. Chapter 7 The Transformation of Work in the Digital Age: Coworking Spaces as Community-Based Models of Work Organization 125
  14. Chapter 8 Organizing Around Affect: Control and Potentiality in Contemporary Capitalism 145
  15. Part Four: Sustainable Environmental Transformation
  16. Chapter 9 Systemic Risks and Organizational Challenges in Transformative Processes: ‘Cybersecurity’ in the Food Field 165
  17. Chapter 10 Uniting the Means and Ends of Degrowth Transformation 189
  18. Chapter 11 Economic Organizations and the Transformation Towards Degrowth 209
  19. Part Five: Radical Democratic Futures
  20. Chapter 12 Organizing for Social Transformation from Below: Prefigurative Organizing and Civic Action 235
  21. Chapter 13 From Stakeholders to Communities of Care 257
  22. Chapter 14 The Possibilities of Radical Democratic Management 275
  23. Chapter 15 Searching for Transformative Potential: Comparing Conceptualizations of Open, Inclusive and Alternative Organizations 295
  24. Index 315
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110986945-015

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. List of Contributors IX
  4. Part One: By Way of Introduction
  5. Chapter 1 Organizing Economic, Environmental and Societal Transformation: An Introduction 1
  6. Chapter 2 Transformation: For Whom, By Whom, Where, Why and When? 27
  7. Part Two: Opening Up Futures
  8. Chapter 3 Post-anthropocentric Transformations of Consumption in the Anthropocene: Beyond the Nature-Culture Divide 49
  9. Chapter 4 ‘Organising Social Impact’ Master’s Programme as ‘Critical Praxis’ to Transform the University and Society 69
  10. Chapter 5 Futures: Necessity, Experiment and the School for Organizing 87
  11. Part Three: Techno-economic Transformations at Work
  12. Chapter 6 The Social Construction of Digital Technologies: The Politics behind Technology-centered Transformations 103
  13. Chapter 7 The Transformation of Work in the Digital Age: Coworking Spaces as Community-Based Models of Work Organization 125
  14. Chapter 8 Organizing Around Affect: Control and Potentiality in Contemporary Capitalism 145
  15. Part Four: Sustainable Environmental Transformation
  16. Chapter 9 Systemic Risks and Organizational Challenges in Transformative Processes: ‘Cybersecurity’ in the Food Field 165
  17. Chapter 10 Uniting the Means and Ends of Degrowth Transformation 189
  18. Chapter 11 Economic Organizations and the Transformation Towards Degrowth 209
  19. Part Five: Radical Democratic Futures
  20. Chapter 12 Organizing for Social Transformation from Below: Prefigurative Organizing and Civic Action 235
  21. Chapter 13 From Stakeholders to Communities of Care 257
  22. Chapter 14 The Possibilities of Radical Democratic Management 275
  23. Chapter 15 Searching for Transformative Potential: Comparing Conceptualizations of Open, Inclusive and Alternative Organizations 295
  24. Index 315
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