Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to share a call for papers for a special issue of M@n@gement on "Is progress taken for granted? Social change, backlash, and resistance in organisations."
The special issue explores the growing contestation of social and ecological advances in and around organizations such as backlash against academic freedom, climate and sustainability commitments, ESG and CSR, DEI policies, and flexible work arrangements. We invite papers that examine how backlash emerges, unfolds, and is resisted at institutional, organizational, managerial, and individual levels.
The special issue invites conceptual and empirical papers from diverse methodological and disciplinary perspectives. We welcome contributions that examine backlash at different levels of analysis (institutional, organisational, managerial, or individual) as well as multi-level studies.
- Journal: M@n@gement
- Guest editors: Sarah Richard, Lucie Noury, Pauline de Becdelièvre, Céline Louche, and Stéphan Pezé
- Submission window: 1 February 2027 – 1 June 2027
- Paper development workshop: 19 November 2026, online, across different time zones
For more information: https://management-aims.com/index.php/mgmt
We look forward to receiving your contributions and to developing this conversation on backlash, resistance, and the fragility of social progress in and around organisations.
Sarah Richard, Lucie Noury, Pauline de Becdelièvre, Céline Louche, and Stéphan Pezé
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Céline Louche
Professor in Business and Society
University of Waikato, New Zealand
celine.louche@waikato.ac.nz------------------------------