Organization Studies and Organization Theory Sub-Plenary:
Friday, July 10, 2026, 12:30-14:00 CEST
Online
Organizers:
John Amis, University of Edinburgh Business School, UK
Tammar B. Zilber, Hebrew University Business School, Israel
Markus A. Höllerer, UNSW Sydney, Australia
Sigrid Quack, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Chair:
Sigrid Quack, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Speakers:
Marcos Barros, Grenoble École de Management, France
Sine N. Just, Roskilde University, Denmark
Renate E. Meyer, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
Stefan Toepler, George Mason University, USA
Over the last few years, we have witnessed a widespread rise of authoritarianism, both as a societal-level alternative to democracy and as a tendency within many liberal democracies, along with shifts in corporate power towards Big Tech, the spread of populist and post-truth discourses, and increased social and political polarization. These developments bring to the fore pertinent questions regarding the organizational features and processes that propel and sustain authoritarianism, broadly defined as a form of governing in which authority rests with a single leader or a small, unaccountable elite, as well as to possible ways of democratic counter-organizing.
What can both classical and contemporary theorizing in organization and management scholarship contribute to a better understanding
of the upsurge and self-maintaining capacities of populist and authoritarian tendencies within organizations, social and political
fields, societies, and at a global scale, rather than with the members of the social entity? What combinations of collective
action, organizing, and societal disorganizing undergird authoritarian claims to authority in terms of discourse, networks,
institutions, digital and material infrastructures?
In the face of authoritarianism, which regularly seeks to fracture social life and break down traditional societal structures
and institutions, how can organizational theorizing inform ways of counter-organization and organizing? What do existing organization
theories and research tell us about the weak spots of authoritarianism that such counter-mobilization might seek to address
– or even exploit – at the organizational, field, societal, and global level? What insights do our theories provide regarding
the rebuilding/strengthening of global institutions, the potential of social mobilization and alternative organizing, including
imagined counter-futures, alternative discourses, forms of sociality, processes of communing, and deliberation?
Empirical and conceptual research on these questions is currently scattered across disciplines, somewhat fragmented within
the EGOS community, and would benefit from cross-disciplinary engagement and the consolidation of a focal research agenda.
With this sub-plenary, we aim to provide a platform for exchange and cross-fertilization between organization and management
studies, on the one hand, and neighboring disciplines engaging with the topic, on the other.
We asked four organizational scholars to reflect on our theoretical toolkit in light of recent threats to democracy and potential
ways to counter them. Marcos Barros will reflect on the temporal and spatial dimensions of authoritarianism, as well as the need for Organization Studies to
(re-)engage meaningfully with the state and legal systems. Sine N. Just will examine how the conjunction of populist structures of feeling and rationalist governmentalities threatens theories and
practices of alternative organizing and democratic debate. Renate Meyer will elaborate on the role of organizations in the current geopolitical situation and as key actors working for and against
authoritarianism. Stefan Toepler will expand on the conceptual roles of civil society in democratization, its limitations and shortcomings, and the challenges
posed by the shrinking space for civil society, including legal/regulatory constraints and the outright suppression of civil
society organizations/NGOs even in advanced democracies.
Biographies of Organizers
John Amis is Professor in Strategic Management and Organisation at University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. John's research interests
center on issues of organisational, institutional and social change, with a focus on social and economic inequality, migration
and social enterprises trying to alleviate problems of homelessness. John is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Organization Studies and was formerly an Associate Editor with Academy of Management Review. In 2022, he won the Academy of Management Organization & Management Theory Division Best Published Paper Award.
Markus A. Höllerer is Professor in Organization and Management at UNSW Sydney Business School, Australia, as well as Senior Research Fellow
at WU Vienna, Austria, and IAE Business School, Argentina. His scholarly work focuses on the study of shifting institutional
arrangements, social change, collective action in crisis situations, novel forms of organization and governance, digital sustainability,
as well as institutions as multimodal accomplishments. Markus served as Chair of EGOS between 2017 and 2020 and is currently
Co-Editor-in-Chief of Organization Theory. In 2022, he received the Joanne Martin Trailblazer Award of the Academy of Management OMT Division for his scholarly achievements.
Sigrid Quack is Senior Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Germany. She is interested
in global cooperation, transnational governance, standard-setting, intellectual property rights and creativity, and has published
widely on these topics, including A Relational Approach to NGOs in Global Politics (2025, co-edited with M.Z. Deloffre, Oxford University Press). In 2022, she was awarded EGOS Honorary Membership. Sigrid
serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the EGOS journal Organization Theory.
Tammar B. Zilber is a Professor of Organization Theory at the Hebrew University Business School in Jerusalem, Israel, and the Copenhagen Business
School in Denmark. She is interested in institutional dynamics and how ways of organizing are grounded in broadly shared beliefs
and understandings and reflected in words, materials, structures, and practices. Tammar uses ethnographic and qualitative
methods to connect macro-level cultural ideas and understandings with micro-level thought, action and interaction by and between
people in organizations, and organizational fields. Tammar serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the EGOS journal Organization Studies.
Biographies of Panelists
Marcos Barros is Professor of Organization Studies at Grenoble École de Management, France, current co-Editor-in-Chief of Organization
and former CMS Division chair at AOM. His research focuses on alternative forms of organization, technology, and critical
perspectives on identity and resistance. His work has been published in leading journals, including Organization, Organization Studies, Academy of Management Annals, Organization Science, Journal of Business Ethics, Organizational Research Methods, Business Ethics Quarterly, M@n@gement, and Journal of Management Inquiry.
Sine N. Just is Professor of Strategic Communication at the Department of Communication and Arts, Roskilde University. She is the principal
investigator of Algorithms, Data & Democracy (2021-2031), an interdisciplinary research and outreach project that aims to
strengthen digital democracy. Sine’s work integrates organization and communication studies to explore the digital transformation
of society as, for instance, articulated in her 2024 book Controversial Encounters in the Age of Algorithms (published with Bristol University Press).
Renate E. Meyer is Professor of Organization Studies at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business and Copenhagen Business School. Renate
holds visiting positions at Oxford University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and University of Alberta Business School.
She is interested in institutional persistence and renewal, collective action in crises, as well as governance arrangements
and fault lines in multisector settings. Phenomena studied include polarization, climate change, anti-vaccination discourses,
science skepticism, multistakeholder arrangements in various crises. Renate is a former Editor-in-Chief of Organization Studies and has served as Chair of EGOS and as Division Chair of OMT. She was awarded EGOS Honorary Membership (2024) and is the
2025 OMT Distinguished Scholar.
Stefan Toepler is Professor of Nonprofit Studies and Director of the Public Policy and Public Administration Faculty of the Schar School
of Policy and Government, George Mason University. His recent research interests range from nonprofit policy to philanthropic
legitimacy and global civil society. He co-edits the journal Nonprofit Policy Forum, and is co-editor of the Routledge Companion
to Nonprofit Management.