A processual perspective on alternative organization: Reorienting critical research through a study of two political parties

Abstract

This article reorients Critical Management Studies (CMS) literature on alternative organization by proposing a processual perspective that relies on Foucault’s concept of ‘critique’ and Mathiesen’s notion of ‘the unfinished’. Rejecting the predefined and normative conception of alternativity that guides much CMS literature, we suggest viewing alternatives as constituted through ever-changing processes of making and breaking dominant orders. This perspective moves the study of alternatives forward by allowing researchers to discover alternativity in unexpected places and appreciate the constitutive intertwinement of ‘the alternative’ and ‘the mainstream’. Most importantly, however, it helps us study the organizational evolution of alternatives and their ongoing struggle to remain deviant. We demonstrate the analytical utility of our approach through a comparative study of two political parties: Independents for Frome (IfF) in the UK and Alternativet in Denmark. Building on this analysis, we explore how and why one organization appears to be thriving while the other seems moribund. We further outline three ‘liberating tactics’ that alternatives may use to remain unfinished and thus alternative: reiteration, compartmentalization, and alliancing. In conclusion, we discuss what it might mean to study alternatives in a processual manner and point to future avenues of research.