1. CRAFT, MAGIC AND THE RE ENCHANTMENT OF THE WORLD: A COUNTERPOINT TO NEO INSTITUTIONAL THEORY
Roy Suddaby
NEON Conference
Trømso, Norway

2. The disenchantment of the world

3. The Disenchantment of the World

4. The Disenchantment of the World
“…the knowledge or belief…that there are no mysterious incalculable forces that come into play, but rather that one can master all things by calculation…”

5. Disenchantment

6. Disenchantment

7. Disenchantment

8. Neo-Institutional Theory
Structuration of organizational fields
Professionalization
Rationalization

9. Is the narrative of the world really one of inexorable rationalization?
Or is there substantial evidence of a counterbalancing narrative of re-enchantment of the world?

10. The return of populism

11. From global world society to tribalism

12. The resurgence of fundamentalist religion

13. The resurgence of spiritualism and the search for meaning
“so where we find, in the World Values Survey, declining emphasis in the rich countries for traditional religious beliefs, we find growing concern for the meaning and purpose of life. In this broader sense, spiritual concerns are growing not shrinking, and a different kind of religion might be playing a bigger role. A simplified view would be that religion is resurging all over the world. Its simply not true. But the politics, even of advanced industrial societies, is shifting to one in which relgious issues are more relevant and value questions are more central”
Dr. Ronald Inglehard, Research Professor, U Michigan

14. The rejection of science

15. The resurgent power of nature

16. The resurgence of fundamentalist religion, increasing rejection of science, the rise of populism and tribalism all speak to an oppositional discourse that exposes the questionable assumptions of progress inherent in Enlightenment claims of reason and Neo-Institutional themes of progress… …but not all re-enchantment is so negative…

17. The return to myth and magic…

18. The Return to Craft …

19. The Return to Craft …
Waste not, Want not: Sweden to give tax break for repairs

20. The return to craft …

21. A counter narrative of re-enchantment
secularism
religion
science
myth/magic
world society
Local/tribalism
rationality
animism

22. What does re-enchantment mean for neo-institutionalism?
Rational
Myths
Beliefs
Rational
Rational
Beliefs

23. Mythological Reason/Magical Realism
Rational myths = beliefs/superstitions that must assume the cloak of rationality in order to gain acceptance
Mythological reason = objective facts/data that must assume the cloak of myth in order to gain acceptance

24. Multiple ways of knowing
Episteme (science/empiricism)
Techne (craft)
Phronesis (social knowledge)
Nous (aesthetic/spiritual knowledge)
Sophia (wisdom)

25. Magical realism
Is a literary or artistic style in which mundane or everyday reality is invaded by a magical element in order to produce a deeper understanding of reality.
Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel de Garcia Marquez (literature)
Andrew Wyeth (art)

26. Different types of Causality
The causality of objects
The causality of meaning
linear
material
Newtonian
objective
factual
history as “brute facts”
dream-like
symbolic
interpretive
emotional
history as “collective memory”

27. The paradox of Magical realism
When objective causality meets magical causality it creates a paradox
Because objectivity and phenomenology, when combined, often do not make sense

28. The paradox of Magical realism
The paradox of quantity:

29. The paradox of Magical realism
The paradox of identity and change (Theseus’ paradox):

30. The paradox of Magical realism
The paradox of origins:

31. The paradox of Magical realism
The paradox of category:

32. Five tenets of a Magical realist ontology
Objects contain “essences”
authenticity
Legitimacy

33. Five tenets of a Magical realist ontology
2. The law of attraction
Isomorphism
Mimesis/simulacra

34. Five tenets of a Magical realist ontology
3. Ritual as collective magic

35. Five tenets of a Magical realist ontology
4. The power of incantation
Discourse: Words of Power
Rhetoric: Words with Power

36. Five tenets of a Magical realist ontology
5. The primacy of animism

37. Re-enchanted Institutionalism
…actually looks a lot like Scandinavian institutionalism