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Edwin A. Locke (Editor). Postmodernism and Management: Pros, Cons, and the Alternative. New York: JAI Press, 2003, 278 pages, $90.00 hardcover.
Prior to reading this book, I didn't know much about postmodernismonly that terms such as "stories" (as in "telling a story" rather than developing a theory or reporting and interpreting results) and "deconstruction" (as in "deconstructing an article," rather than evaluating or critiquing it) made me faintly queasy. Thanks to the lucid accounts of some of the authors, I now have a much better understanding of my misgivings. Whether or not you agree with my review, I urge you to read the book so you can learn more about the arguments and decide for yourself if postmodernism (PM) is as bad as I think it is.
The book is organized into three sections. The first is composed of four chapters by authors supportive of PM. This includes discussion of the PM method of "interpretive unpacking" for exploring issues of employee identification (Alvesson); a rant against reason and progress (Calas & Smirchich); an analysis of Machiavelli and Caragaggio as precursors of PM thought (or lack of it); and a failed attempt to explain how PM is compatible with social science (Kilduff & Kelemen). The second section is also composed of four chapters, these by authors opposed to PM. This includes a rather confused first chapter condemning PM for its flagrant disregard of logic, but lauding its view that human behavior is indeterminate (McKelvey); a detailed analysis of the numerous contradictions of PM (Donaldson); a condemnation of PM's nihilism and its reckless desire to destroy for the sake of destruction (McKinley); and a well-developed analysis tracing PM to its Kantian roots, with all its damning implications (Ghate). Finally,...