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This article argues that cross cultural management research is in a crisis of its own making. It is a captive of the delusion that nomothetic theory is progressing towards convergence of an ideal view. Within the context of this fallacy are competing perspectives and paradigms that appear incommensurable. The battle appears to be which paradigm will win. It is our contention that the battle is futile and unnecessary. We reveal how `paradigmapping' is useful in understanding the manner in which paradigms and incommensurability can be framed in discourse involving culture and organization. Through this work of Frijof Capra we seek to formulate a new perspective on paradigms. This view enables an informative account of where principal contributions can be located within the intellectual space of studies of culture and organizations. It reveals that all knowledge contributions are captive of one privileged view, tolerant of a second marginalized view and denigrative or ignorant of a third view. In other words, all knowledge is captive of blind prejudices. We offer an outline of strategic research options within the field and the potential for transcending potential problems of incommensurability. We conclude that `anything goes', as long as it involves what Capra has called `epistemic consciousness'; namely a realization of the prejudices inherent in our epistemologies, a determination to avoid single-paradigm myopia, and encouragement to employ bricolage in the context of local moralities, relationships and actionable outcomes.

In both professional and academic fields, there is increasing interest in the way in which white-collar workers engage with institutions and networks which are complex social constructions. Covering a wide variety of countries and types of organization, this volume examines the diverse ways in which individuals' ethnic, gender, corporate and professional identities interact. This book brings together fields often viewed in isolation: ethnographies of groups traditionally studied by anthropologists in new organisational contexts, and examinations of the role of identity in corporate life, opening up new perspectives on central areas of contemporary human activity. It will be of great interest to those concerned with practical management of institutions, as well as those of us who find ourselves working within them

Anthropologists and historians have shown us that 'male' and 'female' are variously defined historically and cross-culturally. The contributions to this volume focus on the voluntary and involuntary, temporary or permanent transformation of gender identity. Overall, this volume provides powerful and compelling illustrations of how, across a wide range of cultures, processes of gender transformation are shaped within, and ultimately constrained by, social and political context. From medical responses to biological ambiguity, legal responses to cases brought by transsexuals, the historical role of the eunuch in Byzantium, the social transformation of gender in Northern Albania and in the Southern Philippines, to North American 'drag' shows, English pantomime and Japanese kabuki theatre, this volume offers revealing insights into the ambiguities and limitations of gender transformation

Contrary to the negative assessments of the social order that have become prevalent in the media since 9/11, this wide-ranging collection of essays, mostly by social anthropologists, focuses instead on the enormous social creativity being invested as collective identities are reconfigured. Using fieldwork findings drawn from Africa, Asia, and Europe, special emphasis is placed on the reformulation of ethnic and gender relationships and identities in the cultural, social, political, and religious realms of public life. Under what circumstances does trust arise, paving the way for friendship, collegiality, knowledge creation, national unity, or emergence of leadership? How is social life constructed as a collective endeavour? Does the means towards sociability become its end? And what can be said about the agency and collegiality of women? The inspiration for examining these conundrums is the work and persona of Shirley Ardener, to whom the volume is dedicated. Contributors: Jonathan Benthall, Deborah Fahy Bryceson, Gina Buijs, Sandra Burman, Hilary Callan, Gaynor Cohen, Janette Davies, Tamara Dragadze, Ronnie Frankenberg, Peter Geschiere, Kirsten Hastrup, Paula Heinonen, Maria Jaschok, Grazyna Kubica, Rhian Loudon, Sharon Macdonald, Zdzislaw Mach, Fiona Moore, Judith Okely, Lidia D. Sciama, Shui Jingjun, Cecillie Swaisland, Jacqueline Waldren, Jonathan Webber