Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)

Simone de Beauvoir is widely acknowledged for her significant influence on feminist theory and politics during the twentieth century. However, her work remains largely neglected in organization studies despite the prevalence of themes such as Otherness, ethics, oppression and equality, dialectics, and subjectivity in her writing. Her best-known work, The Second Sex, focuses on the gendered organization of the desire for recognition. This chapter begins by considering de Beauvoir?s intellectual biography and discussing her writing in relation to other philosophers, particularly Jean-Paul Sartre. It examines major themes that recur throughout her work, especially the processual ontology underpinning her analysis of women?s situation and the process of becoming Other. It also explains the relevance of de Beauvoir?s philosophy to organization studies.