Against Managerialist Research

Critical Essays

Häftad, Engelska, 2026

679 kr

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Offering a rigorous critique of the scientific assumptions and ideological commitments that underlie contemporary managerialist research, this book exposes the foundational premises that sustain this influential approach. Mats Persson and Jan Ch. Karlsson define managerialism as an ideology that elevates management's goals and values to a universal status, shaping both research and practice. They demonstrate how managerialism promotes the alignment of workers' identities and aspirations with managerial objectives while excluding them from meaningful democratic participation in shaping those objectives. Tracing managerialist research back to Scientific Management and Human Relations-not merely to neoliberalism or New Public Management-the authors examine its two core dimensions: that workers are inherently irrational and that workplace democracy constitutes a threat against management and employers. They unpack managerialism's confused interpretations of organisational misbehaviour and resistance, analyse the ideological foundations of managerialist leadership theories, and ultimately propose more robust, democratic approaches to researching working life.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-11-30
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor225
FörlagCambridge University Press
ISBN9781009621205

Tillhör följande kategorier

Sociologi inom Samhälle och politik
Företagsekonomi inom Ekonomi och Ledarskap
Ledarskapsböcker inom Ekonomi och Ledarskap

Mats Persson is Associate Professor at the Inland School of Business and Social Sciences, University of Inland Norway. He has published on organisation and management in national and international journals and now focuses on managerialist research and practice. Before moving into academia, he worked for many years in the private sector. Jan Ch. Karlsson is Emeritus Professor of Sociology in the Department of Working Life Science at Karlstad University, Sweden. He is the author of Organizational Misbehaviour in the Workplace (2012), Collective Mobilization in Changing Conditions (2019), Explaining Society (2019) and The Politics of Working Life and Meaningful Waged Work (Cambridge University Press, 2024).

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Managerialism's anathema: rational workers and workplace democracy; 2. Classics of managerialist research; 3. Perspectives on resistance; 4. Resistance to change and the inevitability of death; 5. Chaotic concepts, derogatory terms, unreliable operationalisations; 6. Procrastination and the indeterminacy of wage labour; 7. The dark side of trust-based leadership; 8. Algorithmic managerialism; 9. Conclusion: rational workers and workplace democracy; References; Index.

'This is a new type of book on an important subject which probes deeply into the ways historical and contemporary research has been affected by managerialism – exposing the way in which research efforts have been formed and shaped by this way of thinking. The outcome is a triumph of rigorous academic thinking over the slipshod, cut price and wishful thinking that is contemporary managerialist research.' Stephen Ackroyd, Emeritus Professor, Lancaster University Management School