Title: Disciplining the future: On studying the politics of strategy
Abstract: Indeed, the future puts more constraints on us than the present or the past, despite its strange ontological status–— which is fundamentally an absence, a not-yet. Every society develops its own discursive structures, its own practices and rituals, as well as its own technologies to cope with the obligations of the yet-to-come. It might deflect the unknown, try to tame the uncertain, or imagine the future as a continuation of the past. Modern organizations, and perhaps society in general, deploy a peculiar technology to discipline the future: that disciplining device is strategy. Its proliferation reaches into nearly all strata of society, from firms, not-for-profit organization and public bodies to political parties, cities, states, networks and those who oppose them–—they all strategize to mitigate the influence of the future on their present, and perhaps on their past. As a disciplinary body of knowledge, strategy is codified in textbooks and handbooks, its intricacies are debated in scientific journals. Moreover, it is institutionalized in universities, consulting firms, organizational
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 31
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