The vitalist disjuncture between process organization studies and accelerationism

Abstract

PurposeThis article is concerned with the fundamental differences between Landian accelerationism and the tradition that most closely resembles it within organization studies and process organization studies. Accelerationists and process theorists seem to have much in common, since both bear the influence of vitalism, but there are important conceptual differences that need to be brought to light for accelerationist organization studies (AOSs).Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a straightforward comparison of the fundamental philosophical principles orienting both process organization studies, especially those gleaned from phenomenology and speculative metaphysics, and Landian accelerationism.FindingsProcess organization studies address a localized disciplinary bias towards stability over change and leverage phenomenology and speculative metaphysics to overcome it. Landian accelerationism is a radical account of the supersession of the human by inhuman forces and abandons phenomenology and speculative metaphysics as vitalist variants of correlationism. The two perspectives are shown to be broadly incompatible.Originality/valueThe introduction of accelerationism into organization studies will invariably see it compared with the vitalist strains of process organization studies. This paper emphasizes some of the important differences that exist between these traditions in preparation for an emerging accelerationist organization study tradition.