Capturing Movement That Evades the Eye : A Sensory Ethnography of the 'Hidden' Qualities of Embodied Agency in Professional Dance

This is a sensory ethnography of embodied agency at work. Drawing on fieldwork as well as in-depth interviews, informal conversations and visual material gathered in professional dance, I look at the mundane bodily practices and ‘hidden’ qualities that emerge between off-stage and onstage in this unusual context. Here, I view embodied agency as an aesthetic phenomenon surrounded by various regimes, struggles and passions. It is therefore an ambiguous and unfinished process of creation and becoming who we are (or not) and never reaching stability or perfection.Tämä on aistietnografia kehollisesta toimijuudesta työssä. Väitöstutkimukseni empiirinen aineisto koostuu ammattitanssijoiden keskuudessa kerätystä havainnointimateriaalista, syvähaastatteluista, epämuodollisista keskusteluista ja visuaalisesta aineistosta. Tarkastelen väitöstutkimuksessani niitä kehollisia käytäntöjä ja ’näkymättömiä’ hienovaraisuuksia, jotka ammattitanssin kontekstissa muotoutuvat näyttämön ja lavantakaisten tilojen välisessä vuoropuhelussa. Ymmärrän kehollisen toimijuuden esteettisenä eli aistinvaraisena ilmiönä, joka määrittyy tanssijoiden työssään kokemien voimakkaiden tunteiden ja vaikeuksien kautta. Kehollinen toimijuus on näin ollen päättymätön luomisen ja tulemisen prosessi, joka ei koskaan saavuta vakautta tai lopullista, täydellistä muotoaan.Siirretty Doriast

"Feathers on Fire": A Study of the Interplay Between Passion and Vulnerability in Dance

The focus of this paper is on the concepts of passion and vulnerability, which each provide viewpoints to develop the theoretical notion of embodied agency. To support my argument I present observations from an ethnographic study of dance. The paper describes how the relationship between passion and vulnerability works as a means for expanding embodied agency between off and on-stage, and exposes the aspects through which the interrelation between these concepts materialize among professional dancers. The paper contributes to the surprisingly thin discussion of embodiment at work in organizational studies by deepening our understanding of the link between passion, vulnerability and embodied agency – a triangle deeply connected to all (embodied) professions.</p

Embracing relational vulnerabilities at the top: a study of managerial identity work amidst the insecurities of the self

This study aims to revitalise the concept of relational vulnerability in advancing the theory of managerial identity work. Drawing on 35 semi-structured interviews and 12 podcast interviews with top managers in Finland, we identify two entwined themes through which top managers practise identity work by negotiating their vulnerabilities in the workplace. Our study illustrates the embodied subtlety of relational vulnerabilities in top managers’ identity negotiations by showing they can function as a tool for the managers’ professional development. Our study contributes to the broader discussion on a more humane working life by investigating the ways in which top managers can foster workplaces in which vulnerabilities are used as a starting point for improvement rather than as a tool for disparaging the self and the others. This is an aspect of managerial identity work that deserves to be more profoundly considered in both academic debate and managerial practice

Exploring the embodied subtleties of collaborative creativity: what organisations can learn from dance

This study illustrates the value of embodied subtleties in the process of collaborative creativity. Drawing on a sensory ethnography of two dance productions, we illustrate the fine-grained ways in which professional dancers negotiate creative processes behind the scenes. We identify three aspects through which collaborative creativity emerges from bodily subtleties: (1) moving beyond individual bodies towards collective ambitions, (2) relating to colleagues’ micro-gestures and bodily nuances, and (3) the role of ‘serious play’ between bodies in setting the scene for the first two aspects to occur. The findings will contribute to our understanding of the practice of collaborative creativity, which we treat as not only a mental but also a highly intimate bodily practice. We conclude that appreciating sensory micro-dynamics between oneself and one’s colleagues is crucial for creative collaboration, which is increasingly necessary for management learning in contemporary organisations.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Haavoilla - käsite ja kokemus: aikuiskasvatuksen näkökulmia rikkoviin elämäntilanteisiin.

Tässä luvussa pohdimme, millaisia haavoja akateeminen työ synnyttää meille tutkijoina ja sitä, miten voimme nähdä ne elämässämme voimaannuttavina tekijöinä sen sijaan, että pyrkisimme häivyttämään ne arjestamme. Tutkijan työ on tietotyötä sanan vahvimmassa merkityksessä: työskentelemme kaiken aikaa tiedon parissa ja tuotamme tutkittua tietoa. Tieto on perinteisesti liitetty älyllisyyteen ja erityisesti aivoihin. Tällöin kuitenkin unohtuu, että aivot eivät ole kehosta irrallinen saareke, vaan ajattelemme, tunnemme ja teemme päätöksiä kokonaisvaltaisesti kehollamme.

WORK 2019

This paper discusses, how the increase of digital interactions in modern organizations enables and challenges the use of observation as a research method within the qualitative research realm in management and organization (MO) studies. As e.g. Akemu and Abdelnour (2018) point out, interaction taking place over digital technologies and platforms is gradually merging with face-to-face interactions in a growing extent, permeating social life in ways that often escape ocular observation. In contemporary work, digital interaction takes place through various technological interfaces, such as computers, software platforms, documents, blogs, and so on. These digital artifacts (see e.g. Kallinikos et al, 2013) offer researchers the possibility to either follow ex post record of informants’ interactions, or engage in the process of interaction in real time. Moreover, digital technologies allow us to follow organizational interaction taking place in multiple sites simultaneously (Czarniawska 2008). However, despite of the changes in work and its contexts, many MO researchers seem to relay on traditional face-to-face observations with research designs involving one single location. In addition, in MO literature, so far, very little attention has been paid to methodological considerations of observational research, in order to support research practice to grasp the complexities fueled by virtuality and the use of technological advancements within modern work life.It can be stated, that irrespective of the context of study, there exist similar issues to be solved for observational research. Researchers need to reflect access, issues of trust and rapport with participants, the degree of involvement, or ways to specify the case or process being studied. Yet, as Garcia and her colleagues (2009) point out, a new set of skills is required to observe and interact with research participants in computer-mediated work communities. Observation focusing on mainly one physical setting and face-to-face interaction only, is becoming inadequate means to capture the richness of contemporary work. For example, the seemingly simple observation of people working on their computers or smart phones may lead to misleading conclusions, as some may be playing an online game, some chatting with a friend or trading shares, or some writing a novel. This challenges researchers’ ability to grasp and describe the quality of interaction taking place. Moreover, in order to observe online work, one cannot rely solely on the interpersonal skills of co-presence with the research participants. The issues of research ethics, such as the lack of physical presence and opportunities for anonymity for researcher, as well as the needs for participant privacy and confidentiality may differ from face-to-face contexts. Consequently, it is argued in this paper, that qualitative researchers applying observation within MO, need to adjust their research strategies and techniques to meet the characteristics of contemporary interaction within computer-mediated communication (see also e.g. Akemu & Abdelnour 2018).The paper builds on the findings of a narrative literature review (e.g. Bryman & Bell 2011), with the purpose of generating understanding of the topic base on the existing literature. We discuss the specific nature of the computer mediated communication, and the possibilities and challenges it poses for the observational researcher, either separately, or combined with other research approaches, such as ethnography. It is further argued, that observational research combined with virtuality of work, calls for and opens up new possibilities even to those MO researchers, who have previously mainly built on other methods, such as interviews or historical archival data. We conclude by discussing how the computer-mediated communication of modern workplaces not only has impact on observing online work, but simultaneously on interaction taking place offline.</div

Moving complementarily and concurrently: Exploring relational leadership in ballet and ice hockey

This paper explores leadership as a relational activity. Even if the prevailing leadership literature acknowledges plural forms of leadership, in our view, the theoretical understandings and the empirical illustrations of these forms have remained scattered. In this paper, we aim at uncovering the collectively shared qualities of relational leadership in ballet and ice-hockey. By combining insights from the two diverse contexts, we make a joint effort to explore a complex phenomenon of relational leadership in greater detail. Based on the findings of this paper, we argue that relational actions build on concurrent and complementary movements among collaborative agents in the field. Therefore, this paper argues for a more nuanced and co-constructive theorization of relational leadership in organization studies. </p

Studying the clothing of children as a site of 'silent embodiments' – an opening to the field of organization studies

In this paper, we turn to the clothing of children and argue for a fuller appreciation of this interdisciplinary and underdeveloped research area in the field of organization studies (OS). Here, we approach the clothing of children as a contested, embodied-material site in a broader context of power dynamics, parental-, media-, market- and other influences, where different idea(l)s about childhood, innocence, vulnerability, sexuality, status, class and gender are continuously negotiated. In particular, we show how the clothing of children constitutes a dynamic locus for the entwinement of ideas about aesthetics, embodiment and materiality, and thus offers us an intriguing empirical site where ‘silent embodiments’ underneath material surfaces are teased out. The empirical material of this paper consists of personal diary notes and memories from our own childhood, as well as our everyday experiences of children’s wear as mothers of toddlers. By using the method of ‘memory work’, we aim at giving detailed descriptions of the ways in which we are surrounded by ‘silent embodiments’, how these matter to us, and how children’s clothes are inherently present in our everyday lives. We argue that the clothing of children serves as a meaningful theoretical and empirical context that could offer valuable insights to OS, and contribute to the literatures on children, materiality and silenced embodiments in our scholarly field. Finally, we offer suggestions and insights into the future empirical study of the clothing of children as a sensory domain in OS. A deeper analysis of the clothing of children has the potential to develop more critical discussions of the (silent) embodied experiences and materiality both in the field of OS, and in contemporary material and consumer culture more broadly.</div

Exploring the embodied narrations of the city

This study aims to explore how people bodily narrate and use collective memory to clarify their embodied experiences regarding a city which they memorise. Drawing on 1,359 short stories collected by the online travel portal Visit Turku about ‘How the city feels’, the fine-grained embodied experiences of people are represented through descriptions of their feelings towards the city of Turku. Based on the analysis, two aspects through which the respondents narrated their embodied experiences of cities have been identified: (1) the sociomaterial entanglements with the city and (2) the humane relationship with the city. This study is limited to short stories acquired online, raising questions of anonymity and representativeness. Thus, these narrations are constructions which have to be interpreted as told by specific people in a certain time and place. Tourist agencies should pay attention to the value of looking at written stories as bodily materialisations of people’s experiences of city destinations. Understanding this would strengthen the cities’ competitiveness.  By empirically highlighting how people memorise a city through narrations, the study offers novel viewpoints on the embodied experiences in cities as well as the cultural constructs these narrations are based on, thus broadening our understanding of how cities become bodily entangled with us.</p