Critique Of Bureaucracy Research Articles

Neoliberal Capitalism's Bureaucracies of 'governance'

The account of bureaucracy under neoliberal capitalism which I present in this article under the innocuous heading it prefers to use to describe itself ('governance') draws together recent critical work by David Graeber, Wendy Brown, William Davies and Pierre Dardot and Christian Laval, which it repositions in relation to Jacques Rancière's conception of the 'police order'. The key claims of the new critique of bureaucracy thus delineated are: (i) that neoliberal capitalism's 'stealth revolution' (Brown) is primarily effected by way of a proliferation of bureaucracies; (ii) that these bureaucracies reconstruct the world as an array of 'overlapping competitions' (Davies); (iii) that competitive hierarchisation ('ranking') is the key bureaucratic form, or process, in each of these administrative fiefdoms. To this new critique I add a Derridean reflection on the longstanding mystical or metaphysical appeal of hierarchy and also argue that bureaucratic organisation is the mundane way in which an anti-democratic commitment to hierarchy becomes naturalised. To understand the continuity between the administrative and coercive dimensions of the police order of governance I draw on work in critical criminology on 'the new punitiveness' and scholarship from critical security studies which views security professionals as experts in the governmental management of '(in)security'. I suggest that the massive production of insecurity by proliferating bureaucracies which structure neoliberalism's project of competitive hierarchisation creates the ideal conditions for a vicious circle of securitarian inflation.

The Violence of Bureaucracy and the Gospel of Peace: A Theological Response to an Academic Problem

Abstract Why do academic theologians spend most of their time complying with (and complaining about) bureaucracy? To what extent are the bureaucratic pressures upon theology a form of violence, and how might theology respond? This article engages social anthropologist David Graeber’s creative critique of bureaucracy in The Utopia of Rules (2016) and applies it towards a distinctly theological reading of the bureaucratic problem. Drawing widely on a number of thinkers, including Arendt, Foucault, Webster, Calvin, Hauerwas, Ellul, and others, the article diagnoses the inherent complexity of any theological response to bureaucracy, before offering an alternative mode of revolutionary compliance via the Biblical proclamation of the gospel of peace. If unspoken violence is indeed the heart of the bureaucratic problem, theology might respond with its own imaginatively interruptive language which proclaims how Christ—the Giver of peace armed with a gospel of peace—confronts all totalitarian systems, especially the unacknowledged.

Mel Ramsden’s Theoretical Critique of Institutions: A Close Reading of “On Practice”

The work offers a detailed reading of Mel Ramsden’s “On Practice”. The introductory paragraphs bring insight into contemporary discussions concerning definitions of the term “institutional critique” and exhibit different approaches to the historization of these practices. The main thesis is that Marxism was present in the critical practices of the New York-based conceptual artists associated with institutional critique, while the expanded thesis is that their Marxism was a form of interpretation/intervention in the institution of art. The central part comprises a reading of Ramsden’s text. The reading divides the text into three segments: a critique of bureaucracy in art, a critique of the art market, and a call for alternatives. Special attention is paid to the third segment. The communal art alternatives that Ramsden proposes are juxtaposed with the concrete practices of the “social turn” in contemporary art. The final remarks offer conclusions regarding the main and expanded theses and raise the question of the type of intervention that Ramsden’s text performs in the contemporary institution of art.

Sprawy wspólne

Things in common. 1968 and the critique of bureaucracy in Poland and France
 This article aims to compare the critiques of bureaucracy that emerged before and during the events of 1968 in Poland and France, where these issues gained particular significance. In Poland a systematic analysis of bureaucracy was presented in 1964 by Jacek Kuroń and Karol Modzelewski, whereas in France it was one of main focus themes for the group of intellectuals (esp. Cornelius Castoriadis) gathered around Socialisme ou barbarie review. Slogans inspired by these critiques were present and visible throughout the protests. The comparison allows to indicate some important differences, caused above others by different circumstances in which ideas were formulated and manifestations took place. Still, it allows also to grasp something that the militants from both sides of iron curtain had in common, namely – according to the main thesis of the article – the protest against the end of history, understood as a conviction about the inevitability of socialist (on the Eastern side) or capitalist (in the West) formation. Critique of bureaucracy that enabled the authors to analyze both systems at the same time undermined the false alternative between them and created a starting point for seeking the possibility of a way other than the two pursued at that time.

Max Weber's Sociology of Law

The substantive underpinnings of Max Weber's `Sociology of Law' and the standing of judges therein are discussed. Foregrounding his conception of the administration of justice, perennial concern with the correlation between personality and the structure of domination, and account of legal rationalization, his discernment of the vital adjudicative role assumed by judges and the bearing of their personal qualifications is elucidated. The focus is placed on Weber's putatively negative assessment of the Common Law. Reading his appraisal of precedent and the charismatic stature of the judge in light of his theory of casuistry and critique of bureaucracy, it is shown that his examination implicitly extols the English administration of justice.

Castoriadis' Concept of Institution and Democracy

In this article I discuss the relation between institution and democracy in Castoriadis’ philosophy. The paper proposes an outline of the development of Castoriadis’ political philosophy with focus on institutionalization, imagination and self-limitation of democratic institutions as central elements in Castoridis’ thought. We begin with a short introduction to the concept of institution and institutionalization. Then we discuss the elements of Castoridis’ critique of bureaucracy as a way to distinguish between totalitarian society and democracy. This is the basis for understanding the relation between the imaginary, freedom and autonomy as basic elements of democracy. Finally the paper discusses Castoridis’ new notion of democracy as a kind of self-limitation and creation of collective meaning as the basis for social legitimacy. (find out more)

Maurício Tragtenberg: contribuições de um marxista anarquizante para os estudos organizacionais críticos

Este artigo analisa as contribuições de Maurício Tragtenberg no campo da crítica da administração. Para tanto, são examinadas suas três principais contribuições para esses estudos, tendo como referência o marxismo anarquizante que permeia seu pensamento: a crítica da burocracia, a crítica das teorias administrativas e a crítica da co-gestão. A intenção é demonstrar que suas críticas estão diretamente relacionadas com a visão anarquista que sustenta seu pensamento libertário e sua defesa da autogestão. Concluindo, avalia-se a atualidade do pensamento de Tragtenberg em um contexto de revival e resgate da utopia anarquista, apontando caminhos para os estudos organizacionais que podem ser realizados de acordo com essa perspectiva.

“It’s what we’ve always been doing.” Exploring tensions between school culture and change

In this article, we compare two North Carolina public schools that were simultaneously implementing reforms with seemingly different orientations, the A+ School Program and the ABCs of Public Education. We use the literature on caring and critiques of bureaucracy as a framework to look at the concurrent implementation of two educational reforms in North Carolina. We discuss data from a 5 year longitudinal study and critique our own assumptions as we develop portraits of schools that are both situated and complex. We do this to explore the question: In what ways does educational reform actually change educational practice? We develop a framework that articulates a critique of bureaucracy from the standpoint of caring, locate the culture of each school within the theoretical framework, and analyze how the culture of schools affects the implementation of educational reform. We conclude that reform is deeply cultural and that ethnographic methods are essential to understanding educational reform efforts.

Bureaucracy and Radical Politics: The Case of the Greater London Council

New Left Organizational Theory contains a powerful critique of bureaucracy, and in its place offers a model of collectivist organization. This rejection of bureaucracy, however, is inadequate for understanding left political strategy in the advanced capitalist state. The experience of the radical Greater London Council during the early 1980s suggests a more dialectical critique of bureaucracy, one that recognizes structural opportunities for the democratic transformation of bureaucracy. This study outlines a Gramscian organizational theory that goes beyond New Left Organizational Theory by suggesting a strategy of participatory centralization for radical politics within the state.

Democracy and Bureaucracy: towards an understanding of the politics of educational action research

Abstract The purpose of this article is to examine the rationale of the educational action research movement with a view to identifying and clarifying its political agenda. This is an important task in the current period because of the ambiguities and uncertainties that have arisen in relation to what the author takes to be the central aspect of this agenda, namely the critique of bureaucracy. The article begins with a description of the key elements of the dominant paradigm in educational action research, in particular its emphasis on participatory, collaborative enquiry and its pro‐democratic educational stance. The argument which is then developed revolves around two themes. Firstly, the paradigm is clarified as a democratic political agenda by comparing and contrasting it with other critiques of bureaucracy like those deriving from neo‐liberalism amd neo‐conservatism. Secondly, the problematic and contradictory nature of this agenda is explored, with particular reference to the foundationalism of bure...

Personalizing Personnel Decisions in Feminist Organizational Theory and Practice

This article extends the feminist critique of bureaucracy by examining the ways feminist health organizations contest the bureaucratic ideal of impersonal, role-based, and instrumental social relations. Drawing on interview, archival, and fieldwork data collected by the author, this paper explores the personnel practices of feminist workplaces revealing the difficulties and possibilities that accompany their ways of handling personnel issues. The challenge of reconceiving personnel as persons is explored as a problem of both organizational theory and practice.

Symbols and Artifacts: Views of the Corporate Landscape.

Introduction 1. Artifacts as Pathways and Remains of Organizational Life Part I: Designing Physical Settings in Organizations 2. Corporate Architecture: Turning Physical Settings into Symbolic Resources 3. Building Buildings and Living Lives: A Critique of Bureaucracy, Ideology and Concrete Artifacts 4. Housing Modifications as Organizational Communication 5. Meaning of the Workplace: Using Ideas of Ritual Space in Design 6. The Symbolics of Office Design: An Empirical Exploration 7. Designing Dynamic Artifacts: Computer Systems as Formative Contexts Part II: Disclosing Organizational Cultures Through Artifacts 8. Colors, Artifacts, and Ideologies 9. Photograph Analysis: A Method to Capture Organizational Belief Systems 10. Curing the Monster: Some Images of and Considerations About the Dragon 11. The Symbolic Value of Computerized Information Systems 12. Car Makers and Marathon Runners: In Pursuit of Culture Through the Language of Leadership Part III: Root Metaphors Embedded in Artifacts 13. The C.E.O. as Corporate Myth-Maker: Negotiating the Boundaries of Work and Play at Domino's Pizza Company 14. Artifacts in a Bureaucratic Monastery 15. The Symbol of the Space Shuttle and the Degeneration of the American Dream Part IV: Artifacts and Organizational Control 16. The Aesthetic Imperative of a Rational-Technical Machinery: A Study in Organizational Control Through the Design of Artifacts 17. Linguistic Artifacts at Service of Organizational Control 18. Failed Artifacts Part V: De-Constructing Artifacts 19. Theory as Artefact: Artefact as Theory

Political and Social Writings: Vol. 1, 1946-1955: From the Critique of Bureaucracy to the Positive Content of Socialism.

Political and Social Writings: Vol. 1, 1946-1955: From the Critique of Bureaucracy to the Positive Content of Socialism.

Review Articles : Cornelius Castoriadis, Political and Social Writ ings. Volume One: 1946-1955. From the Critique of Bu reaucracy to the Positive Content of Socialism. Volume Two: 1955-1960. From the Workers Struggle Against Bureaucracy to Revolution in the Age of Modern Capitalism, trans. and ed. by David Ames Curtis (University of Minnesota Press, 1988)

Review Articles : Cornelius Castoriadis, Political and Social Writ ings. Volume One: 1946-1955. From the Critique of Bu reaucracy to the Positive Content of Socialism. Volume Two: 1955-1960. From the Workers Struggle Against Bureaucracy to Revolution in the Age of Modern Capitalism, trans. and ed. by David Ames Curtis (University of Minnesota Press, 1988)