Writing as Skin: How to Negotiate the Body In(to) Learning About the Managed Self
"Explore the intersection of management studies and creative writing to understand how our bodies influence learning and organizational behavior."
In the bustling world of management and organizational studies (MOS), writing serves as a critical tool. It grapples with representing the reality of our ‘organized’ lives by balancing two powerful drives: sharing internal lived experience and externalizing abstract concepts. Often, these forces seem at odds, especially in business disciplines where abstraction historically dominates.
But what if we viewed ‘skin’ as a metaphor—a negotiating interface between these drives? By exploring this concept, we can see both forces as vital components of writing, essential for truly understanding management and organizations. Furthermore, it allows us to discover innovative ways to bring them into contact, enriching our learning process.
This article draws on critiques of ‘scientific’ writing from within management and organization studies, intertwined with creative commentary from the arts. It reflects on how writing mediates learning, serving both as a representation of experience and an experience in itself. As a collaboration between a management scholar and a creative writer, this text is a critical-creative experiment, outlining the experiential 'skin-text' while simultaneously embodying it.
Why 'Skin' Matters: Bridging the Gap Between Experience and Abstraction
This exploration recognizes that academic disciplines often separate themselves when, in fact, collaboration and integration can result in a more comprehensive understanding. This article aims to show that by merging typically separate disciplines, new insights and learning opportunities can emerge. By interweaving the writings, critiques, and creative expressions, a critical-creative experiment is produced—a 'skin-text.' This experimental text is constructed to allow initial impressions to form organically, emphasizing the effect of the piece over immediate analysis. This approach encourages a meditative, experiential learning relation.
- Skin as Interface: Recognize skin as a mediator between internal and external worlds, challenging the privatization of senses monopolized by psychology.
- Vulnerability and Humanity: Acknowledge the vulnerability suggested by skin, often hidden in standardized workplaces, to foster humanity within the workforce.
- Gendered Associations: Understand how the skin and its fallibility are disproportionately associated with women due to societal positioning.
- Sensory Salience: Recognize the importance of senses within material and affective experiences in both cultural studies and management, promoting the integration of affect, embodiment, and material aspects into MOS research.
Embracing Vulnerability: The Path to Deeper Understanding
By recognizing our shared vulnerability and embracing the complexities of our embodied experiences, we can foster more inclusive and empathetic approaches to management and organization. Skin becomes a powerful reminder of our shared humanity, urging us to move beyond abstraction and connect with the lived realities that shape our understanding of the managed self.