Towards a biosocial turn in management and organization research? Proposals for a paradigm shift

Abstract

In this essay, I draw on the concept of biosocial organizing to propose a biosocial turn in organization research. In recent years, Organization has seen an increase in articles and special issues on the organizational dimension of agriculture, food and the environment as major challenges and opportunities for our scientific community and global societies. These contributions participated towards moving the critical thinking of Organization beyond traditional concepts in management such as sustainable development or corporate social and environmental responsibility, in which the environment, living entities and nature are seen, at best, as contexts. However, the number of these works is still limited and the subject deserves further empirical and theoretical research. Much more is needed to promote the contribution of critical organization studies to these challenges, to account for the complexity of phenomena – such as climate change or biodiversity losses – from an organizational point of view, and to learn more about the impacts of studying these topics on new modes of organizing.