Rethinking Resistance as an Act of Improvisation: Lessons from the 1914 Christmas Truce

Wiedemann, NJB; Cunha, MP; Clegg, SR

Rethinking Resistance as an Act of Improvisation: Lessons from the 1914 Christmas Truce

Wiedemann, NJB Cunha, MP Clegg, SR

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Publisher:: SAGE Publications
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Organization Studies, 2020
Issue Date:: 2020

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Wiedemann, NJB
dc.contributor.author	Cunha, MP
dc.contributor.author	Clegg, SR
dc.date.accessioned	2020-10-05T00:57:37Z
dc.date.available	2020-10-05T00:57:37Z
dc.date.issued	2020
dc.identifier.citation	Organization Studies, 2020
dc.identifier.issn	0170-8406
dc.identifier.issn	1741-3044
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/143078
dc.description.abstract	We examine the historical phenomenon of truces, as these occurred during a period of intense warfare during World War I, around Christmas 1914. These were processes of resistance that could not have been planned (otherwise they would obviously have been thwarted by authority) and that occurred in a setting with continuously changing conditions. Our purpose in making this analysis is to identify the micro-foundations and behaviours of enacting resistance and forming a truce under conditions where planning and executing cannot be assumed to be orderly and linear. We discuss the battlefield context of intense competition and mutual suffering as an organizational setting in order to provide a more precise explanation of how rules and structures can be (at least) temporarily suspended in the workplace. We rethink the construct of resistance as an act of improvisation; we do so by developing a framework that explains how resistance can emerge and be quashed in workplace settings that might appear at first sight to be immune. Therefore, we combine two themes that have largely been separated in theory: resistance and improvisation. Doing so opens new ground in three ways. First, we contribute to literature about resistance by explaining how it was constructed as action suspending rules and structures in hostile contexts. Second, we show the political-motivational dimension of improvisation. Third, we extend the notion of truce as not an end in itself (a temporary settlement) but as an avenue to achieve a real objective (e.g. to change the course of history for the better).
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	SAGE Publications
dc.relation.ispartof	Organization Studies
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/0170840619882957
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1503 Business and Management
dc.subject.classification	Business & Management
dc.title	Rethinking Resistance as an Act of Improvisation: Lessons from the 1914 Christmas Truce
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2020-10-05T00:57:32Z
pubs.publication-status	Published online

Abstract:

We examine the historical phenomenon of truces, as these occurred during a period of intense warfare during World War I, around Christmas 1914. These were processes of resistance that could not have been planned (otherwise they would obviously have been thwarted by authority) and that occurred in a setting with continuously changing conditions. Our purpose in making this analysis is to identify the micro-foundations and behaviours of enacting resistance and forming a truce under conditions where planning and executing cannot be assumed to be orderly and linear. We discuss the battlefield context of intense competition and mutual suffering as an organizational setting in order to provide a more precise explanation of how rules and structures can be (at least) temporarily suspended in the workplace. We rethink the construct of resistance as an act of improvisation; we do so by developing a framework that explains how resistance can emerge and be quashed in workplace settings that might appear at first sight to be immune. Therefore, we combine two themes that have largely been separated in theory: resistance and improvisation. Doing so opens new ground in three ways. First, we contribute to literature about resistance by explaining how it was constructed as action suspending rules and structures in hostile contexts. Second, we show the political-motivational dimension of improvisation. Third, we extend the notion of truce as not an end in itself (a temporary settlement) but as an avenue to achieve a real objective (e.g. to change the course of history for the better).

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/143078