Department of Management Studies

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.

This paper explores the subtleties of exercising embodied agency within two contexts shaped by ideals and norms: ballet and fashion. Here, we focus on how dancers and models rehearsing offstage towards onstage performances negotiate
their potential and limitations for achieving agency over and over. Whereas a ‘turn to embodiment’ has occurred within organization studies, less is known about how embodied agency is choreographed and practised between visible
front stages and ‘hidden’ offstages, or in relation to the various human and nonhuman agents present in the field. The empirical material of this paper is derived from two separate ethnographic studies. By combining insights from the two
contexts, we make a joint effort to explore a complex phenomenon in more detail. This paper develops our micro-level understanding of embodied agency as a relational endeavour, and offers insights into the surprisingly ‘a-mobile’ discussion of embodied practices within organization studies.

What could we learn from the 'aesth-ethic' practices of clothing children? The dual focus of this article is to analyse the everyday clothing of children as well as the development of maternal subjectivities as relevant to discussions of aesthetic labour in the field of organization studies. Drawing upon the literatures on aesthetic labour and maternal sub-jectivities in the field of organization studies, we develop a fine-grained understanding of the relatively intense and effortful maternal labours that clothing our children encapsulates. Methodologically, we use autoethnographic diary notes combined with feminist 'memory work' to analyse clothing as an affectual form of storytelling or 'writing' on the child's body that (re)produces certain sociocultural understandings about mothering, sustainability and childhood(s) in a Nordic context embraced by western consumerism. By considering the limitations of the approach taken to drawing wider conclusions about motherhoods, identity construction and clothing, this article advances our understanding of the development of particular middle-class maternal subjectivities seeking to problematize mass consumerism through childrenswear, and how idea(l)s concerning gender and childhood(s) are being (re)produced in and through clothing. K E Y W O R D S aesthetic labour, autoethnography, children, clothing, maternal subjectivities, memory work

This article enquires into the lived experiences of childbirth as a site of ‘fleshy becomings’ that disrupts the dominantly cleaned-up approaches to organising. Theoretically, we approach childbirth as a primitively humane experience in which birthing bodies become entangled with the materiality by which they are surrounded. The empirical material of the article consists of 12 in-depth interviews with first-time mothers in Finland as well as of photographs and autoethnographic research notes taken by the two authors of this article. By empirically highlighting the interplay between flesh and materiality in the ‘making’ of birthing bodies, this article offers novel viewpoints on the discussion of embodied experiences as well as on the entangled relations between flesh and materiality in the field of organisation studies. It also makes an empirical contribution using a unique contextual example of ‘birthing’ to illustrate how vulnerable topics can be researched, offering critical viewpoints on this subject.

How do we write from the sensory body in ways that can convey the lived experience of the researcher and the researched, which can allow other researchers to make sense of their lived experience as well? What alternative writings could transform disembodied academia through dialogue and relational reflection? The aim of this chapter is to reflect on the value of the researcher's embodied reflexivity in academic writing. More specifically, this chapter explores the ways in which we can write differently about organisational phenomena by experiencing aesthetic moments in the field. To accomplish this, I share examples of the aesthetic moments that I, as a researcher, experienced while undertaking three ethnographic projects: a study on professional dance, a study on academic motherhood and a study on female-canine companionship. This chapter identifies three aspects that allow the researcher to experience aesthetic moments-namely, appreciating sensory cues, writing 'in and from the flesh' and allowing vulnerability to flourish. Paying attention to the social micro-dynamics that exist between researchers and research phenomena and addressing the analytically marginalised experiences of researchers, therefore, allows for developing academic writing practices in more reflexive and sensory-appreciative directions.

This piece of writing is a joint initiative by the participants in the Gender, Work and Organization writing workshop organized in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2019. This is a particular form of writing differently. We engage in collective writing and embody what it means to write resistance to established academic practices and conventions together. This is a form of emancipatory initiative where we care for each other as writers and as human beings. There are many author voices and we aim to keep the text open and dialogi-cal. As such, this piece of writing is about suppressed thoughts and feelings that our collective picket line allows us to express. In order to maintain the open-ended nature of the text, and perhaps also to retain some 'dirtiness' that is essential to writing, the article has not been language checked throughout by a native speaker of English.

Purpose-This study aims to explore how people bodily narrate and use collective memory to clarify their embodied experiences regarding a city which they memorise. Design/methodology/approach-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. Findings-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. Research limitations/implications-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. Practical implications-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. Originality/value-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.

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.

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.

This paper explores collaborative creativity as an aesthetic activity and describes how collaborative creativity is negotiated between embodied agents in sensory-based ways. We argue that collaborative creativity is actualised in an aesthetic interplay through which dancers are able or unable to fulfil themselves as creative, embodied agents. To support our argument, we present observations from an ethnographic study of dance. We identify three aesthetic dimensions: emotional, intuitive and improvisational, through which collaborative creativity emerges. The findings have significance for how we understand the sensory-based, experiential foundation of collaborative creativity and treat it, not only as a mental, but also a bodily project.

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.

How do early-career academic mothers balance the demands of contemporary motherhood and academia? More generally, how do working mothers develop their embodied selves in today’s highly competitive working life? This article responds to a recent call to voice maternal experiences in the field of organization studies. Inspired by matricentric feminism and building on our intimate autoethnographic diary notes, we provide a fine-grained understanding of the changing demands that constitute the ongoing negotiation of ‘new’ motherhood within the ‘new’ academia. By highlighting the complexity of embodied experience, we show how motherhood is not an entirely negative experience in the workplace. Despite academia’s neoliberal tendencies, the social privilege of whiteness, heterosexuality and the middle class enables – at times – simultaneous satisfaction with both motherhood and an academic career.

Purpose This study aims to explore how people bodily narrate and use collective memory to clarify their embodied experiences regarding a city which they memorise. Design/methodology/approach 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. Findings 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. Research limitations/implications 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. Practical implications Tourist agencies should pay attent...