ABSTRACT

Through the focus on organizational space, using the reception and significance of the seminal work on the subject by sociologist Henri Lefebvre, this book demonstrates why and how Lefebvre's work can be used to inform and elaborate organisational studies, especially in view of the current interest in the "socio-material" dimension of organisations.

As the "spatial turn" in organisational research exposed the importance of spatial design in inducing power and cultural relations, Lefebvre's perspective has become an inspiring, theoretical framework. However, Organisational Space and Beyond explores how Lefebvre’s work could be of a much wider relevance, especially given his profound theoretical engagement with diverse schools of philosophical and sociological thought, including Nietzsche, Marx, Sartre and Foucault.

This book brings together a range of authors that collectively develop a broader understanding of Lefebvre's relevance to organizational studies, including areas of management concern such as strategy and diversity studies, and ultimately draw on Lefebvre’s work to rethink, reimagine and reshape scholarship in organisational studies. It will be of relevance to researchers, academics, students and organizational professionals in the fields of organisation studies, management studies, cultural studies, architecture and sociology.

chapter 1|24 pages

Introduction

Henri Lefebvre and Organization Studies

part I|106 pages

Theoretical Considerations—Process, Absence, Power, Institutions

chapter 2|19 pages

Politics, Embodiment, Everyday Life

Lefebvre and Spatial Organization

chapter 3|26 pages

Rhythms of Historical Disposal

The Role of Absent Spaces in the Organizational Process of Space Planning

chapter 4|32 pages

Lefebvre and Spacing Leadership

From Power Over to Power With

chapter 5|27 pages

Between Institutional Theory and Lefebvre

Sensemaking, Logics and Enactment of, and in, Space

part II|104 pages

Spaces of Organization—Everyday Work Life, Embodiment, Rhythms, Boundaries

chapter 7|28 pages

City Rhythms

Walking and Sensing Place Through Rhythmanalysis

chapter 9|28 pages

Cake and the Open Plan Office

A Foodscape of Work Through a Lefebvrian Lens

part III|83 pages

Organization of Spaces—Capitalism, Urban and State Relations

chapter 10|24 pages

Exploring the Spatial Dynamics of the City

A Case Study in China

chapter 11|22 pages

Producing the Space of Democracy

Spatial Practices and Representations of Urban Space in Spain’s Transition to Democracy

chapter 12|24 pages

The ‘Visible Hand’ of the State

Urbanization of Favelas as a Violent Abstraction of Space

chapter 13|11 pages

Future Directions

Henri Lefebvre and Spatial Organization