A Žižekian ideological critique of managerialism

Keith Abbott and Bruce Hearn Mackinnon

European Management Journal, 2019, vol. 37, issue 2, 133-138

Abstract: Managerialism is often unwittingly assumed to be devoid of ideological import. This is because its market-based principles, utilitarian understanding of human behaviour, and the instrumental logic of its science-based methods are thought to imbue its applied forms with a certain rationality and objectivity, one that is capable of fathoming the deepest and most enduring 'truths' of effective management in contemporary times. This paper challenges such reckonings by applying Slavoj Žižek's mode of ideological critique. It argues that far from being bereft of ideological stimulus, managerialism is steeped in currents of ideological cynicism generated by the very epistemological realities of scientism under which it operates. Indeed, such currents may even provide the foundation upon which its applied forms are readily accepted by organisational members in their workplace behaviours, despite what they know or believe.

Keywords: Philosophy; Slavoj Žižek; Managerialism; Ideology; Cynicism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263237318301178
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eurman:v:37:y:2019:i:2:p:133-138

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/115/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... me/115/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2018.10.002

Access Statistics for this article

European Management Journal is currently edited by Michael Haenlein

More articles in European Management Journal from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().