Chaos Theory and the Larrikin Principle

This lively, accessible book applies ideas from chaos and complexity theory to core issues in organisation studies. It develops a new critique of Managerialism and its global god-father, Neo-Liberalism, still dominant ideologies in management today. It complements theoretical critique with stories and voices from the front line of organisational life, in Australia, Mexico and Brazil. The book argues that Managerialism is not only unjust. Linearity, rigidity and will to control produce dysfunctional organisations which require alternative practices in order to survive. Managerialism’s efforts to ignore these basic facts of organisational life leave it enmeshed in unacknowledged contradictions, unable to understand itself or develop new strategies. The book gathers these alternative practices under the rubric of the Larrikin Principle. The Larrikin is known in Australian popular culture as a carrier of a distinctive Australian identity, egalitarian improviser, rule-bender, relentless foe of managerial double-speak. This book takes the Larrikin figure back to its archetypal origins which have similar manifestations across the globe, in Australia and Latin America. The transcultural, postmodern larrikin principle carries principles and strategies of critical management and chaos theories into academic management studies and contemporary organisational life. It is a breath of fresh air that will be appreciated by students, practitioners and victims of managerialism today.