Viewing work historically through art: Incorporating the visual arts into organizational studies

Abstract

Purpose

To contemplate how the arts might inform organizational studies by investigating how historically based visual art images contribute to an understanding of workers' experiences during the Depression era (1930‐1941) in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

Inductively looked for patterns among collected visual art images pertaining to work during the Depression era to establish narratives about how workers experienced work.

Findings

Two contrasting characterizations of workers are revealed, namely the “manly worker” and the “beholden worker.” The former shows workers as healthy, robust, and well‐muscled, in control of the machine, and optimistic about the future. In contrast, the “beholden worker” images illustrate workers as tired and dejected, in servitude to the machine, and uncertain about finding a healthy balance between technology and person. Closer scrutiny of the results reveals how visual art images aid organizational scholars by providing useful information and raising new questions about the organizational environment during the Depression era, how workers might have behaved in this setting, the significance of the “beholden worker” characterization, and the meaning of work. Moreover, the approach taken by visual artists offers potential methodological contributions to organizational research namely through attention to description, worker and setting selection, and individual emotions.

Originality/value

Neither of the image narratives of workers exist in the organizational literature suggesting that new management visions can come from revisiting the past and considering other disciplines. More specifically, the visual images help in better understanding the Depression era, and demonstrate how organizational studies could benefit by including an arts perspective.

Citation

Doherty, E.M. (2006), "Viewing work historically through art: Incorporating the visual arts into organizational studies", Journal of Management History, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 137-153. https://doi.org/10.1108/13552520610654041