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The concept of industrial society plays a dominant role in the social sciences. The 'Great Divide' between pre-industrial and industrial societies is commonly assumed to be the main bridge separating modern societies from the past, and distinguishing 'developed' from 'undeveloped' states in the present era. In history, economics, politics and sociology the concept of industrial society underlies a wide variety of discussions, particularly those relating to economic development and social progress. Outside academic writing, too, the concept exerts a great deal of influence. In the developing wo

This article provides a critical re-view of the literature and studies of mindfulness at work. It offers a constructive and sympathetic yet also reflective and critical problematisation of the field. The re-view documents and examines the contributions of four different orientations towards mindfulness at work. These are as follows: individual mindfulness, collective mindfulness, individual wisdom and collective wisdom. Drawing on these contributions, the article makes the case for an 'anti-anti mindfulness'. It argues for the self-critical promotion of mindfulness as a vehicle for extending and promoting the insights of organisational studies.

A long tradition of discourse and practice claims that technology designers need to take note of the characteristics and aspirations of potential users in design. Practitioners in the field of user-centered design (UCD) have developed methods to facilitate this process. These methods represent interesting vehicles for the pursuit of normative politics of technology. In this article, the authors use a case study of the introduction and use of UCD methods in Australia to explore the politics of getting the methods to work in practice. Drawing on the work of Bruno Latour and Marc Berg, the authors argue that UCD methods are tools for engendering new forms of socio-technical relations. However, their normative potential does not arise out of their ability to manipulate abstract categories such as user, technology, and workplace. Instead, it arises out of the complex and unpredictable socio-technical mixes that are generated when people attempt to put them into practice.

Is and should there be a place for the Aristotelian virtue of phronesis in contemporary participatory design practice and for design as an act of anxious love? In this paper we take a critical look at participatory design and reflect upon the virtues of the collective designer. Towards a background of the dreams and lost utopias of some related collective designers of the past: the Bauhaus, Nordic design and Scandinavian collective systems design, we suggest that our attention should not be on the great espoused design ideals but on the politics-in-practice of the collective designer. The really interesting collective designer in practice might very well be much more of a "machiavellian" reflective practitioner than an objective scientist or politically correct utopist.

This paper explores the "lived experience" of organizational politics from the standpoint of the change agent. While political behavior appears inevitably to accompany organizational change, the literature of change management seems to adopt an ambivalent approach to this area. The literature of organizational politics, on the other hand, identifies power bases, and offers prescriptive lists of "power tactics" without explaining how these are deployed in the context of driving, shaping, influencing, or implementing change. How do change agents become engaged in political activity, what forms does this take, and can these actions withstand public scrutiny? This paper is based on qualitative, idiographic accounts drawn from five interviews from a pilot study designed to develop a research methodology for advancing understanding of the shaping role of political behavior in organizational change. The case illustrations presented suggest that political behavior is an accepted rather than an objectionable dimension of the change agency role; that change agents are drawn into political behavior by a combination of organizational and interpersonal factors; that political behavior can serve organizational goals (such as protection of a change agenda) as well as personal career objectives; and that while specific actions may appear unacceptable when considered in isolation, political behavior is potentially defensible in context. The definition of "political" here is the one used by respondents. This constructivist perspective reveals interpretations inconsistent with negative definitions, emphasizing the illegitimate and self-serving character of political behavior, which tend to dominate the literature.

Contemporary empirical studies of teamwork take much of their inspiration from long-standing conflicting images of 'good' work in modem societies. In particular, the 'machine', 'anomie' and 'alienation' images have had a strong influence on theoretical development and empirical research. Rather than criticizing the dominance of this imagery, this article argues for a more selfconscious and comprehensive exploitation of its richness and diversity. Contemporary studies of teamwork are more often than not held back by a reduction of fundamental theoretical issues and tensions to matters of simple empirical tests and a 'forced' choice between perspectives and a general decline in attention to the 'alienation' image. The argument herein is made through a reanalysis of the classic and exemplary debate between Adler and Cole and Berggren over teamwork in NUMMI and Uddevalla.