Alfonso Montuori
California Institute of Integral Studies

As postmodern perspectives begin to make their mark on the discourse of
organizational theorizing, it becomes necessary also to address their
limitations and potentials. In this paper I will address the emerging
questioning of the limitations of postmodernism, and the criticism that
much of what passes for postmodernism is in fact hypermodernism, and as
such subtly but perniciously continues the strategies of domination of
modernity, with particular reference to the body, nature, and the Other.

If indeed we are experiencing a transitional historical stage, as the
"post-" in postmodernism suggests, then perhaps it is necessary to go
beyond the "strategies of resistance" invoked by postmodernists and
suggest scenarios for alternative, non-Utopian possible futures. This is
particularly relevant to organization studies, since many start-ups are
in the position to develop organizational structures and processes that
are a radical departure from established modernist models. Industry
therefore provides a remarkable laboratory for social creativity in the
development of new forms of organizational conviviality. I conclude by
presenting some of factors that may assist in the development of a
knowledge base for such a "reconstructive" project.
 

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Alfonso Montuori, Ph.D.
Assistant to the President for Special Projects
California Institute of Integral Studies
1453 Mission St.,
San Francisco, CA 94103
USA

Ph. (415) 575-6252
Fax: (415) 575-6111

Http://www.ciis.edu/academic/faculty/montuori.html