STRENGTH IS IGNORANCE; SLAVERY IS FREEDOM: MANAGING CULTURE IN MODERN ORGANIZATIONS*

TLDR

The article critically examines the “Corporate Culture” literature, arguing that it builds on earlier theories such as Theory Y to create a self‑disciplining employee subjectivity conditioned on a strong corporate culture. It seeks to uncover the distinctive appeal of this model relative to earlier management theories and to expose its dark, subjugating, and totalitarian implications. The authors draw parallels with Orwell’s philosophy of control in *Nineteen Eighty‑Four* and critique the double‑think claim that autonomy can exist within a monocultural, constraint‑laden environment. They conclude that the purported autonomy is illusory, as monoculture systematically limits employees’ ability to engage with competing values and life projects.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article subjects the assumptions and prescriptions of the ‘Corporate Culture’literature to critical scrutiny. the body of the article is devoted to teasing out the distinctive basis of its appeal compared with earlier management theory. It is seen to build upon earlier efforts ( e.g. ‘theory Y’) to constitute a self‐disciplining form of employee subjectivity by asserting that ‘practical autonomy’is conditional upon the development of a strong corporate culture. the paper illuminates the dark side of this project by drawing attention to the subjugating and totalitarian implications of its excellence/ quality prescriptions. to this end, parallels are drawn with the philosophy of control favoured by the Party in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty‐Four. Specifically, the paper critiques the ‘doublethink’contention that autonomy can be realized in monocultural conditions that systematically constrain opportunities to wrestle with competing values standpoints and their associated life projects.