***Apologies for cross-posting***
Dear all,
Please find here a next update regarding the Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Business & Society on Collective Actorhood and Organizationality (see our trilingual Call for Papers; full paper submission deadline: Sept. 30, 2026).
As mentioned in an earlier announcement, the guest editors are hosting a Virtual Pre-Submission Workshop (via Zoom) designed to provide developmental guidance to prospective submissions on Feb. 25 (2.00-4.00pm Central European Time). The workshop will feature virtual paper development roundtable where authors will receive in-depth feedback and advice on their short papers. The workshop will be held in a virtual form in order to promote sustainability and equality of opportunity to participate.
To be considered for the workshop, please send a proposal or extended abstract (up to 3,000 words, incl. references) to guest editor Dennis Schoeneborn (ds.msc@cbs.dk) by Jan. 31 at the latest.
Participation in this workshop is not a precondition for submission to, nor does it guarantee acceptance in the Special Issue.
With best wishes, also on behalf of my co-editors,
Dennis
....................
Call for Papers: Special Issue of Business & Society
Collective actorhood and organizationality:
Recalibrating responsibility in business-society relations
Guest Editors: Dennis Schoeneborn, Héloïse Berkowitz, Leonhard Dobusch,
Consuelo Vásquez, and Frank de Bakker; Consulting Editor: Devi Vijay; B&S Editor: Punit Arora
Submission deadline: Sept. 30, 2026
In an age of climate crisis, digital disruption, and widening inequalities, the boundaries between business and society are being radically redrawn, raising questions critical for tackling today's grand societal challenges: How can groups, coalitions, and loosely organized entities operate as responsible collective actors? On the flip side, how can collective actors that transcend organizational boundaries be held accountable?
In this Call for Papers for a Special Issue at Business & Society, we call for research that reconsiders the business-society relationship by giving up the clear-cut separation between "the" organization as a distinct entity and society that surrounds it. We specifically encourage contributions that build on gradual theories of organization, such as partial organization (Ahrne & Brunsson, 2011) or organizationality (Dobusch & Schoeneborn, 2015), to critically examine how collective actorhood is constituted, performed, avoided, or denied. From platform companies disavowing responsibility to grassroots collectives organizing without traditional hierarchies, this issue seeks to illuminate the shifting dynamics of business-society relations in both privileged and marginalized contexts.
Please check out the full version of the Special Issue Call for Papers here: https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/PDF/B&S%20SI%20call%20for%20papers%20Actorhood_trilingual_UPDATED-1758078884.pdf
------------------------------
Dennis Schoeneborn
Professor
Copenhagen Business School
Frederiksberg
------------------------------