We are a multidisciplinary group of researchers and educators at Royal Holloway.

The Centre for Critical and Historical Research on Organisation and Society (CHRONOS) actively provides an interdisciplinary, international and inclusive forum to discuss and develop the plurality of ways in which ‘critical’ and ‘historical’ research into organizations, markets and society can be conducted, led by Professor Elena Giovannoni and Dr Giulia Achilli, Centre Co-Directors.

The guiding belief of critical research is that it should uncover the social and cultural dimensions and implications of any subject matter, interrogating and questioning mainstream approaches and practices as a way to make a positive difference for organisations, markets and society. This, in turn, needs to be grounded in an in-depth awareness of the origin, historical heritage and evolution of social phenomena, using historical perspectives as a way to delve into present and future trajectories of organisation and society. In this way ‘critical and historical’ research prompts social and cultural awareness and wise judgement among policymakers, organisational leaders and employees while informing public debate within broader society. What is therefore excluded is research concerned with purely technical, asocial and/or a-historical approaches to organisation and management.

Our strengths and key research areas

• Interdisciplinary perspectives on space and time within and across organisations, researching the material, spatial, visual, and temporal/historical nature of organisation and organising phenomena
• Research into identity and working life, as a way to reconceptualise differences, categories and divisions, and provide fundamental critique of work / life balance
• Research into critical consumption and politics of markets, including, studies on consumer activism; geopolitics; marketplace cultures; socio-historic patterning’s of consumption; classed resistance; business-politics relations; justice, law and markets
• Research into accountability and control in diverse settings (global market, corporations, NGOs, charities, arts organisations and creative industries, education, etc).
• Silent Voices: Feminist and Subaltern Perspectives

Upcoming Events

Please see details below of our latest events:

CHRONOS distinguished seminar - ‘A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH’ - Prof. Oana Branzei, Wednesday 30th November 2022, 2-4pm.

Location: FOUNDERS-E139, Founder’s Building, Royal Holloway Egham Campus, or via Microsoft Teams meeting.

You can find abstract and short bio of our distinguished speaker below.

To attend in person (or online), please email Professor Elena Giovannoni or Dr Giulia Achilli

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‘A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH’

Prof. Oana Branzei, Professor of Professor, Strategy & Sustainability, Ivey Business School.

Abstract:

As the world aches from wars and natural disasters, many professionals above and beyond first-respondent occupations feel called to lend their expertise to resolving life or death events. Bakers, teachers, accountants and mechanics parachute into bush fires. Entrepreneurs spontaneously start-up compassionate ventures. Doctors volunteer on the frontlines of war. Boat captains rescue capsized refugees from drowning. How do such professionals handle the risks they are so willing to absorb? Our four-year multi-modal study of veterinarians repeatedly facing tigers and leopards in intense human-wildlife conflicts shows that they manage to repeatedly forge transient partnerships that bring together complete strangers. Sequential changes in the material infrastructure enable a process we label danger-ordering: professionals ensure material readiness, materialize their jurisdiction, and orchestrate allyship with locals. While professionals initially rationalize and absorb significant risk as individuals, danger-ordering enables a rapid and effective reallocation of risk among many other parties present and willing to handle each phase of an unfolding perilous situation. Our process model of danger ordering showcases the critical role of materiality in changing the course of life or death events.

Short bio:

Oana Branzei is Donald F. Hunter Professor of International Business and Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at the Ivey Business School and Faculty Scholar at Western University in Canada. She is also the founding Director of the Sustainability Certificate program, the founder, convener and host of PhD Sustainability Academy, an annual event of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability, and the co-founder of the recently inaugurated virtual-based and accessible Spring Institute. Ivey champion for the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Education for a decade, Oana has recently pioneered the ESG platform for Ivey Publishing, is developing SDG-concept notes and EDI-focused collections. Oana heads her global Resilience lab, originally formed with funding from her Early Researcher Award, and currently featuring collaborations with rapid-response research teams tackling grand challenges on five continents.

https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/faculty/directory/oana-branzei/

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