‘Schools for Organizing’, or What’s Wrong with the B-School? Martin Parker, University of Leicester

What do B-Schools teach and research?

B-School organizations Big corporations SMEs Public sector organizations Who is this for? Those who benefit from, or want to benefit from, the standard model of capitalism.

But… organizing Organizing ≠ Management Organizing > Management How people and things come together to do stuff Varies - historically, spatially, nationally, ethnically.

Some organizations Producer co-ops, communes, local exchange trading systems, community interest companies, carbon neutrality, industrial democracy, partnerships, open source, degrowth, digital commons, collectivism, worker self-management, intentional communities, bartering, autonomism, ecology, feminism, anarchism, fair trade, social economy, B-corps, small states, community currencies, complementary currencies, bioregionalism, self provisioning, syndicalism, slow food, transition towns, time banks, gift relations, social accounting, the commons, recycling, community energy, permaculture, appropriate technology, city-state, communitarianism, credit unions, ecovillages, consumer co-ops, trade unions, sharing economy, mutualism, microfinance, fair trade, Islamic finance, syndicalism, social enterprise, bartering …

The Royal Horticultural Society Gardener’s Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. ‘The plant world exhibits astonishing diversity. Plants vary from microscopic, one celled algae to huge trees such as the Giant Redwoods of California, towering some 300 feet or more into the sky. In between these two extremes is a bewildering array of more than a quarter of a million naturally occurring species and uncounted numbers of cultivars developed by man during more than 2000 years of cultivation and selection.’

Against necessity Difference Diversity Pluralism Variety Experimentalism Alternatives

Some other organizations The circus Pirates Secret societies Art galleries The mafia Hells angels Angelic hierarchies Utopias And…

A Dictionary of Alternatives ABBEY OF THELEME, ACTION DIRECTE, AGORA, ALTERNATIVE GEOPOLITICS, ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY, See APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY, AMAZONS, AMERICA, AMISH, ANARCHISM, ANDRAE, Johann Valentin, See CHRISTIANOPOLIS, ANGRY BRIGADE, ANTI-CAPITALISM, ANTI-GLOBALISATION, See ANTI-CAPITALISM, ANTI-UTOPIA, See DYSTOPIA, APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY, ARCADIA, ARISTOPHANES, ARIZMENDIARRIETA, JOSÉ MARIA, See MONDRAGON, ARTS AND CRAFTS, ATLANTIS, ATTAC, AUROVILLE, AUTO-DIDACTICISM, AUTONOMIA, AUTONOMOUS WORKING GROUPS, See KALMAR; QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE, BAADER-MEINHOF GROUP, See RED ARMY FACTION, BACK-TO-THE-LANDERS, See SUBSISTENCE WORK, BACON, Francis, See NEW ATLANTIS, BAKUNIN, MIKHAIL, BALL, John, BARTERING, BATTLE OF SEATTLE, BELLAMY, Edward, See LOOKING BACKWARD, BEN & JERRY, BLAC(K) BLOC, BLACK PANTHER PARTY, BLAKE, William, BODY SHOP, BOOKCHIN, Murray, BOURNVILLE, BOYCOTT, BRETHREN OF THE FREE SPIRIT, BRIGATE ROSSI, See RED BRIGADES, BROOK FARM, BUDDHIST MONASTICISM, BUREAUCRACY, BUTLER, Samuel, See EREWHON, CABET, Etienne, See VOYAGE TO ICARIA, CADBURY, See BOURNVILLE, CAMPANELLA, Giovan Domenico (Thomasso), See CITY OF THE SUN, CAPTAIN SWING, CARNIVAL, CASTRO, Fidel (1927- ), CATHARS, CELEBRATION, CENTRI SOCIALI, CHIPKO MOVEMENT, CHRISTIANIA, CHRISTIANOPOLIS, CITY OF THE SUN, CITY-STATE, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, See GANDHI; WALDEN, COCKAIGNE (Or Cockaygne), COHN-BENDIT, Daniel, CO-HOUSING, See CO-OPERATIVE, COLLECTIVISM, COMMONWEALTH, COMMUNE, COMMUNISM, COMMUNITARIANISM, COMMUNITY, Community Credit, COMMUNITY CURRENCY, See BARTERING; LOCAL EXCHANGE TRADING SCHEMES; TIME BANKS, Community Garden, COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE, COMTE, Auguste, CONDORCET, Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicholas De Caritat, Marquis De, COOPERATIVE CITY, CO-OPERATIVES, CORBUSIER, See LE CORBUSIER, CREDIT UNION, CRUSOE, See ROBINSON CRUSOE, CUBA, CULT, DE FOIGNY, See NEW DISCOVERY OF TERRA INCOGNITA AUSTRALIS, DE SADE, See SADE, DEFOE, See ROBINSON CRUSOE, DEMOCRACY, DEMOCRATIC SCHOOL, See SUDBURY VALLEY SCHOOL; SUMMERHILL, DIDEROT, See SUPPLEMENT TO BOUGAINVILLE’S VOYAGE, DIGGERS, DIRECT ACTION, DISOBBEDIENTI, DISPOSSESSED, The, DISSENTING ACADEMIES, DYSTOPIA, ECOFEMINISM, ECOTOPIA, ECOVILLAGES, EDEN, EL DORADO, EMPOWERMENT, ENGELS, Friedrich, Environmentalism, EREWHON, FAIR TRADE, Farmers’ Markets, FASCISM, FEDERALISM, FEMINISM, FEMINIST UTOPIAS, Findhorn, FOCOLARE MOVEMENT, FOIGNY, Gabriel De, See NEW DISCOVERY OF TERRA INCOGNITA AUSTRALIS, FOURIER, Charles, Free Masons, FREE SCHOOLS, FREE STATE PROJECT, FREELAND, FREETOWN CHRISTIANIA, See CHRISTIANIA, Friendly Societies, GANDHI, Mohandas, GARDEN CITIES, GENERAL STRIKE, GENOA, GILMAN, Charlotte Perkins, See FEMINIST UTOPIAS; HERLAND, GOLDEN AGE, GOLDMAN, Emma, GOTT, Samuel, See NEW JERUSALEM, Grameen Bank, GRASSROOTS, GUEVARA, Ernesto, GUILDS, GULLIVER’S TRAVELS, HARMONY, see FOURIER, HARRINGTON, James, see OCEANA, HAYDEN, DOLORES, HERLAND, HERTZKA, Theodor, see FREELAND, HESIOD, see GOLDEN AGE, HOWARD, Ebenezer, see GARDEN CITIES, HUXLEY, Aldous, see DYSTOPIA; ISLAND, INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE (INDYMEDIA), INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY, see KALMAR; JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP; QUALIITY OF WORKING LIFE; SEMCO, INFORMAL WORK, INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY, INTERNATIONALS, ISLAND, ISLE OF PINES, JAPANESE RED ARMY, JOB ENLARGEMENT, JOB ENRICHMENT, JOB REDESIGN; JOB ROTATION, see KALMAR; QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE, JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP, JOURNEYMAN’S GUILDS, see GUILDS, K’ANG YIEU WEI, see UTOPIA; WELLS, KALMAR, Kentish Clubmen, KET, Robert, KIBBUTZ, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON EARTH, KNIGHTS TEMPLAR and KNIGHTS HOSPITALLER OF ST JOHN, KROPOTKIN, Peter, LE CORBUSIER, LE GUIN, URSULA K, see DISPOSSESSED; SCIENCE FICTION, LEMURIA, see ATLANTIS, LENIN, Vladimir Ilyich, LETS, see LOCAL EXCHANGE AND TRADING SCHEMES, Levellers, LEWIS, John, see JOHN LEWIS PARTNERSHIP, LIBERALISM, LIBERTARIANISM, LLANO DEL RIO, LOCAL EXCHANGE AND TRADING SCHEMES (LETS), LOCAL EXCHANGE TRADING SCHEMES (LETS), Localisation, LOOKING BACKWARD, Luddites, Luxemburg, Rosa, LYCURGUS, see PLUTARCH, Malatesta, E, MANAGEMENT, MANNHEIM, Karl, MAO TSE-TUNG ( ), Market, MARX, Karl, MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY, MATTAPOISETT, see WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME, MAY DAY, Mechanics Institutes, MEN LIKE GODS, see WELLS, H. G., Millenarian Communities, MINARCHISM or MINIMAL STATISM, see ANARCHISM; LIBERALISM; NOZICK, MODERN UTOPIA, A, see WELLS, H. G., Monasteries, MONDRAGÒN, MORE, Thomas, see UTOPIA, MORRIS, William, see NEWS FROM NOWHERE; ARTS AND CRAFTS, MOVIMENTO DOS TRABALHADORES RURAIS SEM TERRA (MST), MU, see Atlantis, Muggletonians, Mutuality, NATION OF ISLAM, NEILL, Alexander Sutherland, see SUMMERHILL, NEVILLE, Henry, see ISLE OF PINES, NEW ATLANTIS, NEW DISCOVERY OF TERRA INCOGNITA AUSTRALIS, NEW HARMONY, see OWEN, Robert, NEW JERUSALEM, NEW LANARK, NEW MODEL ARMY, NEWS FROM NOWHERE, NON VIOLENT RESISTANCE, Non-Conformism, North American Indians, NOVA SOLYMA, see NEW JERUSALEM, NOYES, John, see ONEIDA, NOZICK, Robert, OCEANA, ONEIDA, OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE, OPERAISMO, see AUTONOMIA, OWEN, Robert, PARADISE, Paris Commune, PASSIVE RESISTANCE, see NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE, PEASANTS’ REVOLT, People’s Bank, PERMACULTURE, PHALANX or PHALANSTERY, see FOURIER, PIERCY, MARGE, see WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME, Pilgrimage Of Grace, The, PIRATE UTOPIA, PLATO, see ATLANTIS; REPUBLIC, PLUTARCH, Polis, POOR KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN, see KNIGHTS TEMPLAR, PORT SUNLIGHT, PORTO ALEGRE, PROTECTIONISM, Proudhon, Pierre Joseph, Quakers, QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE (QWL), RABELAIS, see ABBEY OF THELEME, RADIANT CITY, see LE CORBUSIER, Radical Routes, Rand, Ayn, Ranters, RAWLS, John, RED ARMY FACTION, RED BRIGADES, REPUBLIC, The, Revolution, ROBINSON CRUSOE, Rochdale Pioneers, Romanticism, ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques, RUSKIN, John, SADE, Marquis de, SAINT-SIMON, Claude-Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de, SALTAIRE, SCHUMACHER, E.F., SCIENCE FICTION, SCOTT BADER, SEATTLE, see BATTLE OF SEATTLE, Secret Societies, SECT, see CULT, SELF-RELIANCE, SELF-SUFFICIENCY, see SUBSISTENCE WORK, SEMCO, SEMI-AUTONOMOUS WORK GROUPS, see KALMAR; QUALIITY OF WORKING LIFE; SEMCO, SEMLER, Ricardo, see SEMCO, Shakers, SHANGRI-LA, SITUATIONISM, SITUATIONIST, SKINNER, Burrhus Frederic, see WALDEN TWO, SLOW FOOD, SMALL STATES, Smallness, SMITH, ADAM ( ), Social Ecology, SOCIAL ECONOMY, Socialism, SOLON, see PLUTARCH, Soviet Union, Soviets, Spanish Anarchist Militias, Spanish Collectives, SQUATS, Stirner, Max, SUBSISTENCE WORK, SUDBURY VALLEY SCHOOL, see SUMMERHILL, SUMMERHILL, SUPPLEMENT TO BOUGAINVILLE’S VOYAGE, Sustainability, SWIFT, Jonathan, see GULLIVER’S TRAVELS, Syndicalism, TEAMWORKING, see KALMAR; QUALITY OF WORKING LIFE, TERRORISM, Therapeutic Community, THOREAU, Henry David, see WALDEN, Time Banks, Tolstoy, L, TOWER COLLIERY, Trade Unions, TRAVELLERS, TRUE LEVELLERS, see DIGGERS, TSE-TUNG, Mao, see MAO TSE-TUNG, TUTE BIANCHE, see DISOBBEDIENTI, Tyler, Wat, UDDEVALLA, see KALMAR, UNPAID EXCHANGE, UTOPIA, VEIL OF IGNORANCE, see RAWLS, John, VIA CAMPESINA, Villages, VOYAGE TO ICARIA, WALDEN, WALDEN TWO, Ward, Colin, WEATHER UNDERGROUND, Webb, Beatrice And Sidney, WEBER, Max, see bureaucracy; cults, WELLS, H. G, William Godwin, Winstanley, Gerrard, WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME, Worker Self-Management, Works Councils, ZAPATISTAS.

Exclusions A History department that only teaches about the 15 th and 19 th centuries? A Geography department that teaches about South America and Australia A Medical School which teaches about arms and toes A School of Management which teaches…

The Moral ‘A school for organizing’? Organizing is the question. Organizing is, to twist Bruno Latour, ‘politics made durable’. If we start from the idea of organizing as politics, as a prefiguration of a way of being, then our problems are not solved, but the world is opened.

End There isn’t one. No one form of (alternative) organizing will solve all our problems, no one arrangement can organize us. But, opening up organizing as a political question, as a means and end for doing politics, allows us to see everything as relevant. And not just teach about corporations.

Plagiarism Parker, M (2016) ‘Towards an Alternative Business School: A School of Organizing’. In B Czarniawska (ed) A Research Agenda for Management and Organization Studies. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. M Parker, G Cheney, V Fournier and C Land (eds) (2014) The Companion to Alternative Organization. London: Routledge. M Parker, G Cheney, V Fournier, C Land (2015) ‘The Question of Organization: A Manifesto for Alternatives’, ephemera [ [ ] 14/4: M Parker, V Fournier and P Reedy (2007) The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and Organization. London: Zed.