Participation and the Essence of Organisation Theory

Year 2019, Issue: 4, 18 - 26, 31.12.2019

Selçuk Gürçam

Abstract

This article departed from the fact that participation is one of the most critical parameters in organisation theory. This article evaluated the issue of participation in the context of organisation theory. It analysed this term concerning modern theories of organisation, post-modernism discussion, and changing nature of reality. In the search for such analysis, the central argument was to test whether “participation” matters in changing the essence of modernist reality. In doing so, the article referred to the discussion on post-modernity, the shift from Fordism to post-Fordism, globalisation, governance, ethical concerns. After mentioning such issues, the analysis included types of participation in administration in organisational life in the last part. Thus, the argument gained a more concrete basis. The article argued that despite the broadness of discussion, participation proved to be fruitful in the context of organisation theory. The article concluded with the suggestion that to construct a theory of participation, complete emancipation of paradigms and approaches from their inherent modernist capabilities, which result in the transfer of the same essence to every theorisation, is necessary.

Keywords

participation, organisation theory, psychic prison, classical organisation theory, neoclassical organisation theory

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