Call for Papers: 13th International Conference on Organizational Discourse, 11th – 13th July 2018, Cass Business School London
Great topic! Great conference!
13th International Conference on Organizational Discourse
“Deception, Demonization and Dissection”
Cass Business School, City University of London, 11th – 13th July 2018
Call for Papers:
[…]
„The 13th Conference is intended to accommodate a rich variety of perspectives on organizational discourse in order to grasp ‘where we are’. This is far from easy. A major analytic theme in organizational discourse has been a focus on the intrinsic ambiguity of discourse and yet we are confronted by an emergent global authoritarianism which paints societies in the starkest shades of black and white. These are quite singular narratives which feed off the truth claims of ‘post-facts’ and ‘alternative facts’ which, in turn, appear to reflect increasing global insecurity and inequality.
Hence, the 2018 theme of ‘deception’ calls for analyses of the ever-expanding litany of authoritarian narratives which have been deployed to legitimise social and political changes which are stripping away the norms, values and practices of social democracy. At the macro-level, ‘conversations’ and ‘debate’ are being replaced by ideological diktat. What were once considered the ‘rational arguments’ of now discredited ‘experts’ have been jettisoned for evangelistic mass meetings demanding the destruction of the ‘Other’.
This links directly to our theme of ‘demonisation’. This has emerged as a core feature of ‘where we are now’. Trump’s ‘wall’ is to be built between all varieties of the ‘Other’ – virtually anyone who is somehow ‘foreign’ to whomever has been imagined as the ‘normal’ citizen have come under scrutiny and discrimination if not attack. This theme calls for work exploring the discursive construction of these Others and how they are now projected as undesirable.
But, of course, discourse has to be enacted and this demands an understanding of socio-economic and political context. And, more importantly, authoritarian demands have not been uncontested. Indeed, there are signs of vigorous if, as yet, unsuccessful resistance. Our third theme, ‘dissection’ is intended to explore ‘where we are going’. It targets analyses of how authoritarian narratives are being discursively translated into social action and social practices and how they are being socially contested.
Overall, we anticipate a wide range of differentiated analyses which explore these troubling times. While recognising the need to clearly acknowledge that ‘things may get worse before they get better’, we remain optimistic that our deliberations can offer a more positive and humane vision of our collective pluralistic futures.“
Call for Papers zum Download: 13th Organizational Discourse CALL FOR PAPERS final