Conceptualizing the body and the logics of performing: Residuals of ancient images and contemporary discussions of management
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how residues of ancient images have influenced one’s perspectives on management. Increased attention has been given to the absence of bodies within discussions of organisations; however, far less attention has been given to the interplay between organisations and images of one’s body.
Design/methodology/approach
By comparing the perceived benefits of studying sport (e.g. passion, embodiment and action) with the tensions that existed between athletic performances and an ancient image of the body, this paper draws attention to residuals that exist within discussions of organisations.
Findings
In a context where an image of the body encouraged moderation, the appropriate levels of heat, and the development of an immaterial and eternal soul, athletic performances, which were physical, extreme, focused on the body and generated excessive heat, were often problematic. These problems are then examined within the literature discussing current issues in management.
Research limitations/implications
Sport has the potential to facilitate one’s understanding of issues that management, consistent with ancient images of the body, has traditionally neglected (i.e. extremes, passion) and the possibilities of using embodied cognition to enhance our understandings of performance, teams and leading are discussed.
Social implications
As scientists become increasingly concerned about the long-term consequences of the reduced opportunities for cultural programs (sport, art, music, etc.), revisiting one’s assumptions is increasingly important, especially as athletics and philosophy once shared the same physical space.
Originality/value
By describing how residues from historical images of the body have influenced the thinking about organizing, this paper highlights the connection between the social and the biological and demonstrates how vestiges from the past influence contemporary discussions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author is indebted to a number of individuals in the development of this paper. First, there is the author’s supervisor, Alain Chanlat who encouraged pursuing a research topic that was not traditional. Secondly, there is the Management History Division at the Academy of Management, who awarded an earlier version of this paper, Performance logics and play: How notions of self have limited our understanding of organizing play, the Ronald B. Shuman award for Best Student Paper. The support and encouragement of John Humphreys, Milorad Novicevic and Patrick J. Murphy has been particularly appreciated. Third, there are the editors, Shawn Carrraher, and the interim editor Patrick Murphy, and the anonymous reviewers whose patience and feedback helped improve this article. Of course no research that involves thinking about play can be complete without acknowledging Elliot and Daphne whose playfulness highlights the joy and freedom it brings to situations and the challenges of creating structures that do not limit their capacity for growth, learning and innovation.
Citation
Stec, D. (2015), "Conceptualizing the body and the logics of performing: Residuals of ancient images and contemporary discussions of management", Journal of Management History, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 345-371. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMH-04-2014-0080
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited