Alternating between Partial and Complete Organization: The Case of Anonymous

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

Authors

This chapter is concerned with further advancing a process perspective on partial organization. More specifically, we address the question of how the different organizational elements of partial organization (i.e. membership, hierarchy, rules, monitoring, and sanctions) interrelate dynamically. Based on the emerging ‘communication as constitutive of organization’ (CCO) perspective in organization studies, we argue that social collectives can alternate between states of organizational ‘partialness’ and ‘completeness’ over time. The temporary and situational completion of partial organization can occur in and through communicative events that demonstrate and ‘celebrate’ a social collective’s ability to mobilize all five elements simultaneously. We illustrate our theoretical considerations by drawing on selected findings from an earlier empirical case study of the hacktivist collective Anonymous.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationOrganization outside Organizations : The Abundance of Partial Organization in Social Life
EditorsGöran Ahrne, Nils Brunsson
Number of pages16
Place of PublicationCambridge
PublisherCambridge University Press
Publication date07.2019
Pages318-333
ISBN (Print)9781108474986
ISBN (Electronic) 9781108604994
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 07.2019

    Research areas

  • Management studies - anonymous, communicative constitution of organization, hacktivism, Organizationality, partial organization, process perspective