Stream for the 4th Critical Management Studies
Conference at Cambridge, United Kingdom, July 2005.
Stream Title:
Militarizing
Organizations:
Rencontextualising and Reconceptualising
the Military in Organizational Theory and Lives.
Co-Convenors
of Stream:
Dr Ryan Bishop - The National University,
Singapore (Email: ellrb@nus.edu.sg)
Dr John Phillips - The National University,
Singapore (Email: elljwp@nus.edu.sg)
Dr Peter Stokes - Edge Hill College (acc.
inst: Lancaster University), United Kingdom. (Email: stokesp@edgehill.ac.uk)
In the contemporary moment, especially
post-Vietnam, attitudes regarding military and “militarily infused” events,
topics and affairs are, in most instances within academic enquiry, subject to
only a reticent engagement and an almost automatic invocation of certain
commonly perceived representations. In its popular cultural form (Hassard and Holliday, 1998), the systematic marginalisation
of military-influenced events and experiences and the effects of militarization
on organisations typically aims to ascribe to, and account for, military
impacts on wider society in terms of a set of stereotypical images (sic: harsh disciplinary regimes, fascist
figures embedded in archaic hierarchical power structures). The normative
representation of the military is presented as being an organisational form and
experience which is distant and remote from other
organizations and other modes of being in the world. These representations not
only overlook and eclipse many potentially fruitful opportunities for analysis
and comment but also lead to a generalized perception that the military is
largely a self-contained body that has little influence on social and cultural
formations.
In those instances where militarised
contextualisation is invoked in organizational texts, these accounts tend to
examine in an ossified manner military events and histories in order to
transport and graft these experiences onto business settings. This approach
distils, in a not altogether irrelevant, but nevertheless simplistic manner,
lessons which can be gleaned from military contexts and concepts in order to
ensure heightened effectiveness or success in terms of some form of competitive
advantage for business.(see Fineman and Gabriel’s
(1996) brief but illuminating remarks and concerns on this issue.) Or, they are
used as simplistic means for cultural interpretation in which business and
warfare become analogues for understanding international business interactions,
especially between North American/European Countries and Asian Countries, with
the latter being delineated as markedly martial.
This stream seeks to explore, challenge and
address petrified conceptual and contextual notions of militarization of wider
organizational sociologies and therefore seeks papers which consider
the multifarious manners in which military ideas, experiences, technologies/technicities and organizations, historically and
contemporaneously, infuse and affect organizational lives. A perception of a
hermetic separation between military and non-military (traditionally termed
“civilian”) appreciations and understandings of organizations may be somewhat
artificial and overplayed. Consequently, there are many possibilities to
reflect on what may be broadly represented as military, quasi-military and non-military
organizations.
The stream seeks papers which consider, in
the broadest sense, militarization in relation to issues of inter alia: identity; resistance; alienation; emotion; labour
process; gender; feminism; ethnicity; competing sociologies; modernism;
postmodernism; politics; economics; ethics; art; literature; aesthetics; and,
technology/technicity. It is anticipated that the stream will encompass the
widest possible range of organizational settings and contexts.
Presentation Format and Structure of the Stream Sessions.
The Stream welcomes all modes of enquiry,
disciplinary/cross-disciplinary perspectives and approaches to this very underexamined field of study.
It invites a spectrum of structures and styles of paper presentation. For
instance, these may range from the frequently used OHP talk to simulations,
role-plays brief playlets (even using audience
participation should they so chose). However, presenters are, by no means,
obliged to employ a novel presentation technique and, clearly, papers will not
be prejudiced should they wish to convey their ideas in conventional formats
and manners.
Provisional
indicative themes to be considered may include:
The themes elaborated below are not intended to be
comprehensive or exhaustive in any way whatsoever. Rather, the intention is to
supply catalytic topics which will prompt debate and discussion.
The historical influence of, and the relationships between,
militarised organizations and their practices on wider society and organizational
life.
In the United Kingdom in the first half of
the twentieth century the military frequently constituted a paragon model on
which society might be ordered and operated. Indeed, many business school
prototypes were predicated on their military academy counterparts. For a range of reasons this waned and lost
its intensity in the second half of the century, at a moment with virtually
every other aspect of human existence was being increasingly militarized through
Cold War policies, strategies and targeting. How do periods of peacetime and
wartime relate to the wider organizational communities? What insights and
lessons can be gleaned from previous eras? Indicative contexts might include:
Spartan warrior society
Athenian democratic society and the strategoi (Cummings, 1992)
Alexander the Great’s exploits (see Bose,
2003)
Medieval Society (power privilege and feudal tithes and service)
The French Revolutionary Citizen’s Army.
The British WWII Home Guard
Also, generically: armies of liberation,
peoples’ armies, rebel/freedom fighting guerrilla
armies.
Patterns
of Military Allusions and References in Organizational Literature
Military allusions, metaphors and
illustrations can be located fairly readily in organizational literature, but
especially in the subjects of strategy (for example, Davies, 2001 in Jenkins
and Ambrosini; Cummings (1994) in DeWit
and Meyer)), leadership (Laurie, 2001) and teambuilding (Bank, 1985; Butcher,
1991; Krouwel and Goodwill, 1994). However, all too
often, such references are often fleeting attempts to point up and legitimate
the presence of particular practices or the use of “militaristic” terminology
and phraseology. Moreover, a number of texts exist
which draw exclusively on military examples and contexts with which to inform
“non-military” practice. Most commonly cited and applied in this genre are the
military/political commentators: Sun Tzu (McNeilly,
2000; Michaelson, 2001); Clausewitz
(Handel, 1996); and, Machiavelli (Ledeen and Tally,
2000; Haslan, 2002).
How can the existing literature be extended
or adjusted or simply refuted? What commentaries are possible on the treatment
of military conceptualisations hitherto constructed in the literature(s).
The role of war photography: for example, the
work of Robert Capa in WWII, Tim Page and Sean Flynn
in Vietnam. What impacts did this work have on organizational theory and
practices at the time and subsequently?
The influence of works of art: Goya’s Seige of Saragossa;
Picasso’s Guernica; Nash’s WWI paintings.
“Painting
is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war.” (Picasso)
War Poetry - for example: the work of Brooke,
Owen, Sassoon.
Literature – for example: The Red Badge of Courage, Bravo Two Zero (McNab)
or the flow of books from former members of the Special Air Service (SAS).
The influence and construction of poster art
and propaganda (for example: Kitchener’s “Your Country Needs You” and the WWII
“Wall’s Have Ears”).
War and cinema (for example, following Paul
Virilio’s work which explores the emergence of cinematic technologies and
practices as emergent from and influential upon military technologies and
practices).
Simulation and Cybermodelling – Cyborg/Human-Machine
Interfaces (MANPRINT) and cyber art (for example, performance artists such as Stelarc).
Blurring the normatively delineated boundaries of
military and “non-military” organizations and practices.
This invites the possibility of considering
margins and boundaries and the potential for seeing blurred and grey aspects
which may suggest possibilities for reconceptualisation
and recontextualisation. For example, what issues of
identity and voice emerge in the accounts of employees who are also volunteer
reservists in the armed forces? In the Bosnian conflict and the two Gulf Wars
(1990 and 2003) many employees were obligated to leave their companies
temporarily in order to serve in military units. Also, the increased
privatization of military operations (for example, in Iraq) reflects an in
creased blurring of the boundary between the civic and military, the state and
private realms.
How, and to what extent, do commentaries and
reflections on military contexts and a society’s relationship with these
contexts vary within different national settings? For example, what role does
the invocation or discontinuation of national service in a country have on
society and the multifarious
organisations in the given culture(s)? How do various nation
states react to military issues and contexts? For example, in the Swiss army
there is a purported close correlation between reservist army rank and an
individual’s position in many of the key civilian organizations and
corporations. Does this engender a curious power elite
spanning various aspects of Swiss public life.
Representations of Military in Popular Culture
Reference to the work of Hassard
and Holliday (1998) on popular cultural representations of organizations in
filmic, televisual and theatrical productions begs
studies of genre or individual examples. What are the stereotypes which emerge?
Indicative of possibilities here is Dyer’s
(1998) journalistic commentary on how post-WWII popular culture infused a
generation of people to relive a representation of the war through toys (Airfix model kits of tanks and planes), Comics and
Magazines (such as The Victor and The Hotspur), military ethos and victory
syndrome making military approaches a template for the reorganization of
science, industry and commerce.
War and Music (Frankie Goes to Hollywood: Two Tribes, Kim Wild: Flying to Cambodia,
Tchaikovski:1812 Overture)
War and Film (The Big Red One, The Dambusters,
Apocalypse Now, Saving Private Ryan)
Television Documentaries
and docu-dramas (Warriors
on soldiers serving in Bosnia).
What can these tell us regarding the
organizations which sponsor, produce and consume these products? What issues
arise around the commodification of war? For example, fashion clothing themed
on combat fatigues: John Galliano talks of “War chic” (Sunday Times, 2003),
Arnold Schwarznegger leads a fashion drivings a Humvee military
vehicle like those used by American Forces in Iraq. Similarly, the production of
such vehicles has been a boon to certain US auto maunufacturers.
What might be learned by a consideration of
gender debates when contextualised against militarised settings? Possibilities
include: analysing the charges of discrimination and machismo in the armed
forces and studies of identity and identity-making and transformation and
resistance. How might this relate to experiences in other organizational
contexts? To what extent, and how, do “glass ceilings” operate in military (or
“militarised”) settings? What issues arise for positioning women in front-line positions. (see Branigan,
2001) There is a well-established tradition of service in forward positions in
the Soviet Army (particularly during WWII) and it is a debate which has
exercised many other societies. Also, there may be scope in reflecting on the
role and influence of enduring stories and myths, for example, The Amazons and Boudica of the Ancient Britons. (See also Susan Jefford’s work on US masculinity and the Vietnam War, as
well as Dr Strangelove as an extended critique of masculinity and male
sexuality.) The construction of gender (male/female, hetero-/homosexual) via
the military remains one of the foundational sources for such formations within
many cultures, societies and nations.
Ethnicity and the Military.
What lessons and insights can be gleaned from
the experiences of people of varying ethnic groups.
Illustrations embrace the mixed experiences of Somalian
and post-Glasnost Soviet Jewish immigrants to Israel and their obligation to
undertake national service in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). How do
experiences in the IDF reflect and relate to experiences in wider societal
contexts? Alternatively, what lessons may be learnt by contextualising the
draft of black Americans into the Vietnam War against individual experiences in
American society and organizational life in general. Similarly, what were the
experiences of fighting “a racist enemy” during World War II, only to face Jim
Crow segregation laws upon their return to US society as well as segregated
blood plasma within the military itself. What
experiences and stories can be considered in United Kingdom contexts?
Children, War, Military and Organizations.
The use of children in
various African armies (for example, Liberian factional forces). What impacts does this product across organizations in the society?
How does it pertain to and/or modify notions of business practices and child
labour. Also:
Jewish kinder transport and organisational
management.
The Holocaust and children
Evacuees from the Blitz
Child victims (“collateral damage to use the
repugnant jargon) of smart bomb attacks – organizational responses?
Can special or privileged roles for trust be
claimed in certain organizational contexts? Does military or “militarised”
organizational experience engender particular patterns of trust and mutually
dependent relationships?
This strand invites consideration of the
parallels and juxtapositions of total war conditions and those of a globalised world economy, situations emergent from the
onset of the Cold War and intensified up and into the present war on Terror.
These have historical trajectories into colonial practices past. Thus, the Cold
War and Postcolonialism, as well as wide-scale international tourism, emerge
simultaneously and are influenced by similar historicities.
What might be learned about military
experience and organizational life in general by a reflection on acts of
resistance? Evident examples include, conscientious objectors in times of war, refuseniks in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) who are
prepared to fight against major offensives by Arab nation states but refuse to
serve in contested Palestinian areas or be involved in controversial operations
such as the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
How are voices of resistance manifested and
organized in such contexts. What are the roles and
responses of organizational forms?
The Kill – the supposed
great separator for the “military” and “non-military” is that in military
contexts that killing and being killed is “part of the contract of work”. But how delineated is this? To what extent are employees and
managers prompted to kill or “be killed” both metaphorically and literally?
This invites a range of issues, for example, the potentially lethal effects of
work/life imbalance (strokes, heart attacks, stress-induced illnesses and
breakdowns, redundancy and its impacts). Also, to what extent does
“risk-analysis” (itself a product of Cold War/Rand Corporation game theory
experiments) lend itself to creating balance sheets of injuries/death from
business products and possible litigation?
And organizations “kill” for competition,
cost-cutting and other motives and ethical reasonings:
The Union Carbide Bhophal Disaster; the Zeebrugge Ferry Disaster, Paddington and Potters Bar rail
crashes.
In addition, how does the engagement of
troops in “civilian” contexts raise questions and issues as well as civilians
in troop situations?:
Soldiers called in to act as
firefighters during industrial disputes;
Soldiers brought in to control
civil disturbances and riots ;
The role of para-military organizations in
relation to other organization;
(The National Guard and the Vietnam Peace Movement/Organization);
Uniformed services: Police, Fire service, Ambulance Service.
This potentially links into popular cultural
representations:
“Audiences today are often thrilled by
violence. This is intended to show what that violence does to human beings.”
Spielberg discussing Saving Private Ryan
Also, bullying in the military (for example the questions being asked
in the media about suicides, harassment and other events at Deepcut
Barracks in the United Kingdom) in relation to bullying in other settings and
contexts. Are there parallel accounts to be developed in the manner in which
the distasteful, bloody and abhorrent is sanitised and presented clinically?
What role does particular language: jargon, euphemism; agencies: artists,
media, soldiers silences have to play in such processes?
Training and Development Associated
with Military/Militaristic Approaches.
A
priori this invites a consideration of the value of
populist applications of military stewardship to Organisation. Illustrative of
these would include the frequently referenced: Clausewitz’s
On War, Sun Tzu’s, The Art of War and Machiavelli’s The Prince.
Furthermore:
Issues of “realism” in training and
development (for example see Locke (1998) in Engwall
and Zamagni; Butcher (1991))
The use by military of university business schools to acquire
organizational skills. The military feel they require the classic functional
areas of marketing, human resources, finance, organizational strategy,
logistics and the skills of management and leadership.
The use by many types of organizations of outdoor management
training programmes (problem solving, paint-balling, outdoor pursuits: mountain
expeditions, canoeing, abseiling etc.)
Illustrations here may include the “Reserve Forces Executive Stretch
Weekend” in which the military seek to demonstrate the value of military
experience to business.(see Swann (2003) in The Financial Times)
The subcontracting of civic entities (for
example, cities or towns) in the US for marines to train in urban warfare has
become increasingly big business and is sold to these entities as “urban
renewal” In addition, this training includes “real-time” simulation services
provided by Universal Studios, which provides visual, aural and olfactory
effects. And increasingly prison inmates are being forced to play the part of
urban guerrillas in these exercises.
The
Relationships Between Trade Expansion and Military
Expansion.
Considerations of the organizational
dimensions of empire, conquest and trade:
Iraq and Oil
The Opium Wars
Alexandra the Great
The Banana Wars: Us in the Caribbean
(Langley, 2002)
The Cold War
The Cod War (over fishing rights off the
coast of Iceland)
The War on Terror
Military – Industrial Complexes:
This phenomenon is well-commented particularly in United States
contexts and in relation to events in the Cold War and particularly Vietnam.
Examination of the economic, political, ethical and social impact of the
military-industrial complex produces far-reaching impacts for a range of
aspects of organizational lives (see Paul Edwards The Closed World). Companies
which may serve as illustrations here are companies like: IBM; Boeing; Lockheed
and in a United Kingdom setting, British Aerospace, and Vickers-Armstrong. The
award of military contracts, for example to shipyards has potentially enormous
impacts on structural unemployment and the commercial infrastructure. This is
also connected to the domains of arms exporting and trade and the role of governments and world
trade representative organizations.
Further
suggestive topics within the Stream include:
Knowledge Management as a Military
Experience.
With the strong contemporary interest in
Knowledge Management what role will KM play in relation to military,
quasi-military and para-military contexts and the
marginal areas they create in relation to different societal contexts
(terrorism/freedom fighting, technological conflict, propaganda, media
management)
Accounts and Stories of people
leaving the armed forces and Entering Other
Organizations
Accounts of readjustment, of transition, of
attitudes to the organizational lives they encounter and create for themselves.
Psychological and emotional
dimensions of Military and “Non-Military”/
“Quasi-Military” Experience.
What commentaries may be generated which
locate parallels between military and other organizational experiences. To what
extent does fear in battle or conflict relate to losing or winning ground in a
stock-market setting?
For example, what
contemporaneous accounts can be made from works such as Goldman and Segal’s
(1976) work Social Psychology of Military Service?
What stories can be told of post-traumatic
stress disorder in military contexts and wider organisational spheres?
Flexible Work Practices in Military
Contexts
Reservists and Territorial
Forces.
What are the experiences of people who relate
to military and non-military organizations?
The Infusion/Introduction of Business
Practices into Military and quasi-Military contexts.
(For example, the MANPRINT webpage of the
Department of Defence in the US has a great deal of information on this topic
and how the military wishes to engage with such infusion.)
The Relationship of Media
Organizations and Military Contexts.
(see Knightley on media organizations and the truth in war
reporting.)
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