A new lease for life? The return of vitalism in management and organization studies

Elke Weik*

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

This paper starts from a growing interest in the concept of concern, lived experience or “inhabiting” as part of the so-called “affective turn”. My main argument is that the notion of concern cannot be thought or understood without the concept of life. The concept of life, however, is somewhat of a taboo topic in the social sciences. I hold, nevertheless, that in order to reflect on their assumptions and to define concern for their own studies, scholars need to think about life and make a choice regarding the various approaches that can be taken. I therefore present and compare four vitalist approaches: romanticism and Lebensphilosophie, vitalism as ethos and pathos, neuroecosociality as well as vitalism as becoming.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Management Journal
Volume40
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)2-9
ISSN0263-2373
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2022

Keywords

  • Life
  • Lebensphilosophie
  • Romanticism
  • Concern
  • Vitalism
  • Neuroecosociality
  • Vulnerability
  • Pathos
  • Affect

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