CRITICAL THEORY (CHAPTER 6)Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason, COMS 404

- Mentally revisit the classical, humanist, systems, and cultural concepts

- Examine and reflect upon your understanding of POWER in organizations and in our society

BEFORE YOU READ…

ROOTS OF CRITICAL THEORY

Frankfurt School philosophy Karl Marx Knowledge in society is NOT objective

Organizational communication scholars operating from a critical theory attempt to reveal how social and technological structures within organizations serve to oppress workers

DOMINATION

Critical theorists view an organization as a site of domination where the interests of the dominant group (typically owners and managers—people with power) are elevated above the interests of subordinate groups (typically the workers—people with less power).

It is all about POWER…who has it, who doesn’t, what they do with/without it

Mumby (2000) notes two levels of concern with power in critical theory

Individual/group social relations

Interests and values upon which knowledge claims are made

EWP R

DIMENSIONAL VIEWS

Power: One Dimensional View

Power: Two Dimensional View

“A has power over B to the extent that A can get B to do something B would not otherwise do.” (Dahl, 1957) Focuses on decision-making

behavior and conflict

Power MUST consider both decision making and non-decision making (Bachrach & Baratz, 1970) Focuses on the fact that

power is present in both covert and overt communication

Power: Three Dimensional View Power may be present in situations where there is no

conflict on the surface and at times OTHER than when a decision is being made (Lukes, 1974)

Focuses on political agenda, issues and potential issues, and observable (overt or covert) and latent conflict

IDEOLOGY AND HEGEMONY

Ideology is the value and beliefs held by the dominant group. Ideology represents values, ideals, and understandings about a part of social

reality. Ideology can function in the following ways: to represent sectional interests as

universal, to deny or transmute contradictions, to naturalize the present through reification, to use ideology as a means of control.

Hegemony is the enactment of these values and beliefs by the subordinate group

The key to the concept of hegemony is the idea that the subordinated group actively supports the interests of the dominant group, often unknowingly, a situation resulting in oppressive circumstances.

The subordinated group is actively participating in the maintenance of the dominant group’s ideology; hence, its means of control.

Think about

it!

How is this

critical view

actually ‘critical’

– conside

r the term.

CONCERTIVE CONTROL

Technically, this is the idea of adhering to socially constructed norms and values that are developed by the organizational members themselves as they strive to construct their environment

What does that REALLY mean?Org. members develop the values

so they are more likely to follow them.

COMMUNICATION IN CRITICAL THEORY Jurgen Habermas

Ideal Speech Situation – participant and interaction are balanced. Validity claims

Utterances are truthful

Legitimate relationship has been established between the participants

The utterances are sincere

The utterances are comprehensible

Think about it!When, if ever, did you feel these validity claims were in place in an organization

you were in?

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Read pages 119-120 of your text. What do you think about the monitoring of technology use described? Have you

experienced anything similar?

USING CRITICAL THEORY

Create a more “human(e)” workplace Feminist organizational communication theorizing Organizational spirituality Organizational codes of ethics

HUMAN(E) WORKPLACE

Critical organizational theorists are dedicated to uncovering oppressive structural, technological, and communicative practices in organizations that most people accept as a natural part of work life.

The reality is that the oppression and oppressive circumstances exist often as a by-product of the manner in which organizations have classically been run.

Cheney’s “democracy” in the workplace

Think about it: Workers tend to think that oppression is just a part of working – it just is a part

of how work functions. Have you ever felt this way?

FEMINIST ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY Feminist organizational theory is a form of critical theory that is

dedicated to examining the oppressive circumstances experienced by women in the workplace.

Liberal feminists – people are differentiated on basis of sex and exist in a male-dominated structure where women are oppressed

Overcome by working with existing structure to gain equal opportunity for women

Materialist feminists – advance the idea that gender differences are socially constructed

Overcome by uprooting existing male-dominated power structure and equally distribute resources

Radical feminists – men and women should be separated as a way to resolve the imbalance between the sexes

Women hold superior biological and cultural qualities – they should separate themselves because they can operate at a higher level without male counterparts in the system

These are COMPLEX ideas that are rather simplified here – explore more

examples and details in your text

EQUITABLE POWER SHARING

Mattson and Buzzanell (1999) posit that feminist ethical approaches differ from others by focusing on "equitable power sharing and decision making" and insisting that "doing ethics" involves being an active participant in the struggle to maintain an ethical community (p. 62).

1. This perspective seeks to define the situation through examination of organizational members language choices, behaviors, and various aspects of the context to determine the (un)ethical nature of the situation.

2. Second, values and ideals serve to identify communicative action that violates the values of voice, community, and fairness.

3. Third, the value of fairness implies the equitable balance of power and resources.

4. Fourth, the ethical principle recognizes the importance of emotion in communicative behavior.

5. The final phase, development of a solution points to the need to constantly reevaluate options and solutions until an acceptable one is reached.

== =

ORGANIZATIONAL SPIRITUALITY

In an effort to more fully embrace or endure their organizational lives, many members have begun to approach their work with a sense of spirituality.

Milliman et al. (2003) suggest three dimensions that make up organizational spirituality.

1. “meaningful work” (individual level)

2. Interconnection, community (group level)

3. The organization's mission, values, and goals. (organizational level)

ORGANIZATIONAL ETHICS

Encourage members to have a voice in the development of a code of ethics

Usually a response to unethical behavior May be coercive Tries to standardize behavior

Think about it: Please consider your MAJOR. Does your major area have

a code of ethics? What do you know about it? Why does/doesn’t your area have a code of ethics? Where do

you find a code of ethics?

CRITICAL THEORY

Apply these concepts to the organization you are studying this semester.

How do you feel about critical theory?

What are some limitations of the critical perspective?