Discussion: View Thread

Call for Contributions: Dignity and organizations

Submission Deadline for Short Abstracts: June 1, 2015 (ca. 250-500 words)

to: papers@humanetwork.org

 to

Editors: 

Monika Kostera, Professor, Jagiellonian University, Poland

Michael Pirson, Associate Professor, Fordham University, USA

Publisher: Palgrave McMillan (Humanism in Business Series)

----- 

The humanistic turn in management is a fairly recent phenomenon, but it exists already a rich and extensive literature (for an overview see Kostera, forthcoming and Pirson et al., 2009; 2014).  There also exists a plethora of writings on issues related to dignity in management (see e.g. Agassi, 1986; Bolton, 2007;  Fleming and Spicer, 2007; Hodson, 2001; Raelin, 2012; Sayer, 2007), however, these publications touch only a specific side of topic and do not intend to give a broad, synthetic picture. The gap in literature which this book aims at filling consists of a humanistically oriented synthetic review focused on the dimension of human dignity in the all the key aspects of organization, management and its social and cultural context. The chapters, authored by key scholars within the relevant areas, will concentrate on the issues of dignity in relation to each aspect, bringing up the most pertinent theoretical and empirical points, ideas and consequences of a humanistically oriented approach.

The notion of human dignity as that which bestows intrinsic value to human life has been central to societal progress since the Middle Ages – as evidenced in the quest for freedom from slavery and other forms of repression, democracy, the establishment of modern governance, and the 20^th century development of an international human rights regime (Kateb, 2011; McCloskey, 2010). According to Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), humanity, being capable of morality and agency, can be described in terms of dignity, not value, because humans are not relative of the observer's judgement and are, instead, ends in themselves. The elevated status that the idea of human dignity holds is epitomized in the famous dictum of Immanuel Kant that― "everything has either a price or a dignity. Whatever has a price can be replaced by something else as its equivalent; on the other hand, whatever is above all price, and therefore admits of no equivalent, has a dignity" (Kant, 1785). In other words, dignity represents the apex of all human norms and values. As some economic historians argue, the quest for dignity has been so relevant that it became a key success factor of social and economic development in the West (McCloskey, 2010).

Economics and by extension management research, however, have long since neglected the notion of dignity, possibly due to a utilitarian and reductionist legacy (Dierksmeier, 2011). The predominant economic anthropology (centered on homo oeconomicus), exemplified by noted economists and management scholars Michael Jensen and William Meckling (1994) , holds that we all have a price: "Like it or not, individuals are willing to sacrifice a little of almost anything we care to name, even reputation or morality, for a sufficiently large quantity of other desired things; and these things do not have to be money or even material goods." (p.9-10)

Karl Marx regarded unalienated (and thus not devoid of dignity) work as an important part of human emancipation. According to Simone Weil (1999) the dignity of labor is central for the good life. Only work allowing reflection and the use and development of skill and professionalism is able to benefit dignity and moral well-being of the workers.

The humanist turn in management is an approach to organizing and organizations, focusing explicitly on dignity as the foundation for all activity. The Humanistic Management Manifesto published by the Humanistic Management Network states the following:

The Humanistic Management Network defends human dignity in the face of its vulnerability. The dignity of the human being lies in her or his capacity to define, autonomously, the purpose of her or his existence. Since human autonomy realizes itself through social cooperation, economic relations and business activities can either foster or obstruct human life and well-being. Against the widespread objectification of human subjects into human resources, against the common instrumentalization of human beings into human capital and a mere means for profit, we uphold humanity as the ultimate end and key principle of all economic activity (Humanistic Management Network, 2014).

Humanistic management can be defined by three key characteristics (Kostera, forthcoming). Firstly, by its focus on the human condition, needs and rights. The aim of humanistic management is the concern for the good, dignity, emancipation and development of the human being (Humanistic Management Network, 2014; Batko et al., forthcoming). It is based on the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant (1997), which upholds that the human being should never be regarded as a means to any end, but should only be seen as an end it her or himself. Secondly, humanistic management often seeks inspiration and guidance in the humanities (Gagliardi and Czarniawska, 2006; Orzechowski, 2009), to gain knowledge and a cultural sensitivity.  Thirdly, humanistic management is adopting the perspective of the human condition and experience (Hopfl, 1994; Kociatkiewicz and Kostera, 2013). As a practice and academic discourse it seeks to understand in a compassionate way organizational realities from the point of view of the feeling, thinking, embodied human, of all hierarchical levels and social roles.

In this call for contributions we invite researchers to explore the notion of human dignity in the context of organizations. We invite chapters that develop the notion of human dignity in conceptual terms (theory), in its practical application (practice), within the context of teaching (pedagogy) and within the context of public policy (ecosystem). We invite contributions that explore the relevance of human dignity for a variety of organizational aspects such as organizational legitimacy, stakeholder management, innovation or that explore its relevance for business functions e.g. finance, marketing, human resource management, strategy etc.

All chapters should be conceptually grounded and connected to existing discourses of dignity in areas such as: philosophy (Kant, 1785; Rosen, 2012; Sen, 2001), political science, e.g. conflict resolution (Hicks, 2011), legal studies, e.g. governance and corporate charters (Kateb, 2011; Meyer & Parent, 1992), religious studies (Duffy & Gambatese, 1999), economics, e.g. poverty alleviation (McCloskey, 2010; Nussbaum, 1998), sociology, e.g. alienation (Bolton, 2007; Hodson, 2001; Lamont, 2002), or psychology, e.g. motivation (Harris, 1997). 

While the above list is merely suggestive and non-exhaustive, the editors seek contributions that can shape the paradigmatic discussion of management.

Specific research areas might include, but are not limited to:

• Dignity at work
• Dignity and culture
• Dignity and technology
• Dignity and structure
• Dignity and strategy
• Dignity and finance
• Dignity and marketing
• Dignity and leadership
• Dignity and production
• Dignity and the management of people
• Dignity and corporate governance
• Dignity and power
• Dignity and dialogue
• Stories of dignity
• Dignity and art in organizations
• Dignity and decision making
• Dignity and emancipation
• Dignity and learning
• Dignity and anarchism for organization
• Dignity and forgetting
• Dignity and organizational dreaming
• Dignity and gender
• Dignity and postcolonialism
• Dignity and ethics
• Dignity and resistance
• Dignity and economics

Proposed schedule:

1)      1/6/2015 short abstracts (ca 250-500 words)

2)      1/9/2015 first drafts of the chapters (ca 5500-8000 words)

3)      1/10/2015 editors' feedback to authors

4)      1/12/2015 revised version of chapters

5)      1/2/2016 last revisions

6)      1/3/2016 finishing of editing process, book sent to publisher