The greatest show on earth: organising and the performance of society

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to draw attention to the significance of “acculturation” in organisations and organising and how learning occurs as micro-practices (organisational poetics).

Design/methodology/approach

The recognition of the ontological significance of organisational acculturation invites a more critical view of the effects of organisational practices on individual identity, social norms and the accountability of organisations to society.

Findings

Organising and organisations are cast as nurseries of cultural practices that are so normalised we regard them as “unremarkable,” as “just the way things are,” yet “schooling” of identity and social norms.

Practical implications

If we want a better world, we should, as citizens, expect more from our organisations and their learning.

Social implications

The significance here is, from a post-structural, relational stance, that organising and organisations are significant agents in the performance of what it is to be human and our social conditions. As well as goods and services, organisations produce “humans.”

Originality/value

As distinct from the canon of organisational learning literature which is primarily concerned with learning for the effectiveness and resilience of organisations for their own benefit, this paper asserts that what we learn and normalise in organisations structures society – the world we live.

Citation

Blantern, C. (2021), "The greatest show on earth: organising and the performance of society", The Learning Organization, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 487-501. https://doi.org/10.1108/TLO-05-2021-0063