Chinese Management: (Re)Constituting a Technology of Self for a Technology of Control
Presentation at Asian Research Centre, Copenhagen Business School (CBS)
Abstract: Analyses of Chinese management and business practices have traditionally invoked specific ‘Chinese’ cultural traits as explanatory variables. Whilst the cultural explanation extends our understanding and points to the inadequacy of a strict economistic approach, it too falls into the trap of historical fallacy. Assuming and often reinventing a Chinese historical and philosophical continuity and unity, particularly via the tropes of Confucianism and Chinese history, these researchers have failed to critically engage, connect with, interrogate and appreciate Chinese history, particularly the contestation of ideas within China itself and the impact of alternative Chinese cultural practices. In over privileging selected aspects of ‘Chineseness’, these research have produced partial and skewed analyses and many invariably reproduced dualistic practices and thought which they considered inappropriate in the ‘Chinese’ way of thinking and practice. This presentation takes issue with the triumphal culturalist explanation of Chinese management and business practices and argues that a sustained critical analysis requires greater reflexivity and necessitates a historically informed approach to bear on the genealogical roots of Chinese business practices – Confucianism, relationships, networks, family and traditions. In so doing, it facilitates new insights to be developed and refined, providing a more critical and nuanced appreciation of business systems.
posted by lw @ 12:00 PM
