The Production of Cynical Knowledge in Organizations

Abstract

The term is used to describe the understanding by members of an organization that presumably altruistic procedures or actions of that organization actually serve the purposes of maintaining the legitimacy of existing authority or preserving institutional structure. This paper explores the processes by which organization members obtain cynical knowledge. A study of the priests of a larger American archdiocese offers evidence that discrepancies in their belief systems, associated with age, can be explained successfully by an understanding of the role that cynical knowledge plays in an organization dependent upon commitment to altruistic ends. In any institution characterized by a strong belief system, authority relationships may be threatened to the degree that cynical knowledge is acquired by participants early in their careers. Such breakdowns of authority relationships may become more common with the organizational changes now occurring in many professional organizations.