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The Paradox of Empowerment Suspended Power and the Possibility of Resistance
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Ronald F. Wendt
ISBN: 0-275-97233-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-97233-2
224 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 4/30/2001
List Price: $106.95 (UK Sterling Price: £73.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Wendt provides a collection of critical stories examining the power and politics of organizational life. He looks at workers in frustrating situations and explores a new type of power that is simultaneously beneficial and detrimental. The talk, language, and discourse that constitute the micro-paradoxes of work life are investigated.

Starting with the concept of corporate hegemony, Wendt looks at its language, provides stories illustrating hegemony, and helps the reader envision how hegemony carries over to other social realms like higher education. After exploring the possibility of counter-hegemonic resistance, including tactical storytelling, Wendt sets forth a new theory of suspended power. While he shows there is no clear answer or response to the politics of corporate hegemony because it is a persistent dilemma, he points the reader to the uses of critical theory to understand and adjust to contemporary power dynamics. Of particular interest to scholars and students involved with communication, management, and cultural studies.
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction: Corporate Hegemony and the Possibility of Resistance
    Part I
    All the Way Down and All the Way Back: Toward a Critical-Postmodern Hermeneutics
    Hegemonic Double Binds
    The Sound of One Hand Clapping: Counterintuitive Lessons Extracted from Paradoxes and Double Binds in Participative Organizations
    Part II
    Women in Positions of Service: The Politicized Body
    The Too Aggressive--Not Aggressive Enough Paradox
    Part III
    Corporate Lampoonery as a Hermeneutic Sign of Our Times: Reading "Dilbert" from Critical and Post-structuralist Perspectives
    The Corporate Consumption of Higher Education
    Technology and McEducation
    Part IV
    Building Resistance(s) Through Radical Pedagogy and Tactical Storytelling
    A Critical Reflection
    Epilogue: A Skeptic's Forecast
    Notes
    References
    Index
About the Author: RONALD F. WENDT is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include leadership, power relations, organizational paradox, and social movements. Professor Wendt's work appears in a number of scholarly journals, including The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Communication Studies, and Management Communication Quarterly.
LCC Class: 306
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