Bergquist, William

Hatch, Mary Jo

1997 Organization Theory: A postmodern perspective. London: Oxford University Press. This book takes an affirmative position, but situates postmodern with the interpretative approach and these with the bedrock of OT. I was a discussant of Hatch and Willmott in the CT session of the 1999 Academy. After each presented their books, I was in the role of discussant. I know both books well. What is relevant here is the fact that while a comparative read may make it appear that Alvesson & Willmott's book is more skeptical than Hatch and therefore more radical, there is the issue of context. Hatch is writing about US OT and within that she is radical enough. She does not step into the dark side like Burrell, Foucault, Marx and Nietzsche, but she does juxtapose her several positions with the structural functional, contingent, institutional and population ecology schools of OT. Since the book is multi-perspective it makes people comfortable, but it does make things more complicated.

Gergen, Kenneth

Hopewell, James F.

1987 Conregation: Stories and Structures. Philadelphia, PN: Fortress Press. This amazing book gets almost not cites at all. Yet it does a very affirmative and I think somewhat postmodern action. It compares and contrast the OT of a number of churches, recording and interpreting their stories. I mention it because it takes a pragmatist view along with social construction. It is a good background to what follows.

Boje, David and Robert Dennehy

1993 Postmodern Management: America's revolution against exploitation. Dubuque, IO: Kendall-Hunt Press. 2nd Edition, 1994. This book was inspired by Foucault, Lyotard, Clegg and Jameson. It has been mentioned already so I will not go into much detail. Suffice it to say that skeptic postmodern writers consider it way too affirmative to treat too serious. Yet, I do fine there critiques of TQM, Peters guru work, and empowerment. And in each chapter there is a critique of postmodern organization. It does not dive into Nietzsche's abyss or the dungeons of Pandemonium, but for its time I think it was radical enough.

1990 Modern Organization: Organizational Studies in the Postmodern World. London: Sage. This is also a book that skeptics say is much to affirming of postmodern organization. Yet, in the book is an international perspective on organizations, one that takes Toffler and the post-industrial thesis to task.

Boje, David M., Robert P. Gephart, Jr., Tojo Joseph Thatchenkery

1996 Postmodern Management and Organization Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. This book has seen both good and bad review. It was among the first US efforts to move beyond an affirmative postmodern position. It does something that most of the skeptics' work does not do. It is critical and postmodern about the ecology of OT, challenging the fictions of environment (complexity, turbulence, uncertainty) with material about trees, air, and soil. Some of the authors had not tried postmodern or critical writing before, while others such as Hassard and Clegg had done quite a lot. I think it is still more in the affirmative quadrant that the skeptics because it does not do enough with Nietzsche or Marx. It is however more critical and skeptical than others listed thus far in the lower right quadrant.

Best, Steven and Kellner, Douglas

1997 The Postmodern Turn. NY/London: The Guilford Press. I am sure both skeptics and affirmatives wish to claim this book as their own. I shall make the case for the affirmatives. The book takes a position on theecology, which the skeptics generally do not do. In addition, the work is based in Guy Debord's Situationist's movement as a primary force in the postmodern turn. While including much that is skeptical, the book also leaves open possibilities for affirmative work in both CT and PM. Of course this is my own reading. The book does complicate everything, but it also makes people comfortable. It roots postmodern theory into the postmodern sciences, and into various arts. The book includes some coverage of the affirmative OT writers. Perhaps I should locate this book on the boarder between the lower two quadrants. But I wanted to make a point.

Best, Steven

1995 The Politics of Historical Vision: Marx, Foucault, Habermas. NY/London: Guilford Press. This to me is an example of affirmative CT. Best works to show how critical theory permeates the writings of Marx, Foucault, and Habermas, but in different ways. Marx focus is on production, Foucault on power and knowledge, and Habermas on the rules for effective speech communities. You may prefer to move this book to the skeptics' quadrant, but there is more to it. Best critiques the grand schemes of social change in these works, but leaves open the possibility of effecting change by combining in inter-disciplinary fashion the strengths of each. It is complex, somewhat uncomfortable, but makes me a bit more comfortable.

Weber, Max

1947 The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. Edited with an Introduction by Talcott Parsons. NY: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. Not the best translation. This book is a counter point to Marx. Both books describe the shift in OT from feudal capitalism to commercial/merchant capitalism. Weber offers bureaucracy as a superior alternative to feudalism of what passes now for charismatic theories of organization and leadership. To Weber, the entrepreneur capitalist enterprise is unstable and will turn to bureaucracy, feudal power, or charismatic zeal. Of these he defends bureaucracy. For more read Clegg's books.