The mechanistic foundations of the organism metaphor

What is it about?

Rather than saving organization studies from its mechanistic precepts, this essay shows that the organism metaphor simply enabled the mechanistic underpinnings of organization to find a new medium of expression. The essai develops this argument through investigating the history of the words 'organization' and 'organism' and examining how the organism was brought into the fold of organization so as to reinforce the mechanistic underpinnings of the field.

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Why is it important?

If the mechanistic ghost in the organism is to be exorcised, organization studies needs to recognize and rethink these underlying premises. Towards this end, we offer two alternative ways of thinking organization via the organism: one pre-Modern and one post-Modern.