This thesis responds to a call to bring humanities into organisation studies. The researcher analyses and interprets contemporary Surrealist paintings for understanding organisational dystopia. While organisational dystopia is not new to the field of Critical Management Studies (CMS), it is a concept enriched by a variety of imaginative stances addressing marginalised or silenced experiences of work life. One such area of imagination is painting. Paintings have historically examined work as a subject of art, yet art has been missed in organisation studies. To address this issue, as well as contribute further to an understanding of organisational dystopia, this thesis presents a case for expanding the field of culture studies in CMS by looking into Surrealism and paintings. This thesis is one of the first of its kind to analyse and interpret paintings in the discipline of organisation studies. The researcher formulates an original framework for examining the contemporary Surrealist paintings by the artist Tetsuya Ishida, who represents the dark, gloomy dystopia of Japanese salarymen. The framework is a system to analyse form (material) and content (meaning), and to interpret paintings. Through this devised framework, paintings are analysed and interpreted in response to two research questions: What are qualities of organisational dystopia? and What are themes of organisational dystopia? The researcher elaborates on organisational dystopia in two ways. First, in the identification of qualities of organisational dystopia, including objectification of labour. Second, in the recognition of themes of organisational dystopia, such as a totalitarian control of private space and complexities of escaping or enduring a dystopia. By addressing organisational dystopia, the researcher presents a warning about the darkness of progress. This research contributes in the two main ways: adding to knowledge on organisational dystopia and arguing that paintings are a valuable method to research design. Thus, this thesis presents a way forward for organisation studies to investigate concepts and criticisms via imagination and art.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:742260 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Schrock, Lauren |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/102821/ |
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