Work and Organization: The Aesthetic Dimension

Over recent years the field of organization studies has exhibited an increasing interest in the aesthetic dimension of work and its organization. The chapters in this volume owe their origins to a conference held at the University of Manchester in July 2001. This conference, The Second International Critical Management Studies Conference, contained a stream on art and aesthetics which was convened by the editors of this volume. The chapters that constitute this volume should be understood as being inter-related, and are clearly focussed upon the topic of art and aesthetics. Notwithstanding, the chapters in this volume can be seen to speak to three major themes which could be broadly described as: Art and aesthetics as a way of knowing organization; the organization of work itself is an aesthetically ordered activity; and, critical engagements with aesthetics at work.