Craft, magic and the re-enchantment of the world

Suddaby, Roy ORCID: 0000-0002-9167-9180, Ganzin, Max and Minkus, Alison (2017) Craft, magic and the re-enchantment of the world. EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, 35 (3). pp. 285-296.

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Abstract

This essay challenges the prevailing view of progressive rationality and disenchantment as set out in Max Weber's social theory and reproduced in organizational neo-institutionalism. We observe that rationality and disenchantment cannot exist in the absence of magic, mystery and enchantment. We argue that the contemporary celebration of rationality and disenchantment is a modernist discourse that has marginalized equally compelling instances of re-enchantment. Drawing from the popular press and management research we identify five themes of re-enchantment in the world; the rise of populism, the return of tribalism, the resurgence of religion, the re-enchantment of science and the return to craft. We use these phenomena to elaborate four alternative constructs – authenticity, reflexivity, mimesis and incantation - that counterbalance the over rationalized and paralyzing concepts in neo-institutionalism – legitimacy, embeddedness, isomorphism and diffusion.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Institutions, Enchantment, Authenticity, Reflexivity, Mimesis, Incantation
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Management
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	06 Nov 2023 08:30
Last Modified:	06 Nov 2023 08:30
DOI:	10.1016/j.emj.2017.03.009
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3176637