Under the Knife: Anatomising Organisation Theory

Karen Dale

Chapter 5 in Anatomising Embodiment and Organisation Theory, 2001, pp 114-152 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract In an Open University programme on ‘cell structure and function’ there is an incredibly detailed demonstration of how a rat’s kidney is prepared for biological study. Luckily (for my sensibilities, at least) the initial stages of killing and dissecting the rat to obtain its kidney are omitted (see Birke, 1994; Hubbard and Birke, 1995). However, every­thing that follows this is premised on death and fragmentation. The kidney is first of all sliced into paper thin pieces. One piece is then put through a large number of processes to ‘fix’ it, so that the structures will stay in place and not merge, and ‘stain’ it, so that these structures can be differentiated under the microscope. The whole process is acknowledged to be ‘denaturing’; it is also extremely dextrous work. Finally, the fragment, bearing no resemblance to an organ, let alone an animal, is attached to a microscope slide and the ‘true’ scientific work of examining its parts can begin.

Keywords: Body Image; Organisation Theory; Organisation Study; Disciplinary Field; Bounded Entity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:pal:palchp:978-0-333-99382-8_6

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9780333993828

DOI: 10.1057/9780333993828_6

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().