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In this essay, we call on critical management education to focus on the organization of work and the nature of work tasks. While critical action learning and both reflexive and psychodynamic approaches to management education situate learning in actual work experiences, they do not explicitly encourage reflection on work tasks and the organization of work. Our aim is to draw on the French psychodynamics of work perspective to argue that reflection on concrete experiences and processes of work is important because work has significant implications for workers’ health and for society. We also use two vignettes to discuss the implications of French psychodynamics of work for the practice of critical management education.

International audience; Over the past 15 years, an increasing number of researchers have become aware of what the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan's work can contribute to management and organization studies. The number of publications on the subject has significantly risen, at the risk of leading to some apparent heterogeneity of the topics covered and a potential distortion of the Lacanian concepts when used in management and organization studies. In this article, we aim to map this emerging field of research, bring to light the theoretical basis common to those works so as to make the Lacanian theory used to study management and organization more legible, and discuss the limitations and opportunities implied by such a Lacanian approach. We organize the published works around two main orientations, each helping to address specific issues: a clinical orientation, within organizational psycho-dynamics, and a critical orientation, related to critical management studies.

International audience; This article reports a qualitative study of several coworking spaces conducted over 3 years. We build on Foucault’s reflection concerning heterotopias to develop a new concept – that of ‘syntopia’ – for theorizing this type of space, whose main characteristic is that its alternative potential lies in enabling its users to articulate economic diversity. Our contribution is twofold on one hand, our theorization of coworking spaces helps better account for their complexity, for the tensions that can arise within them and for their impacts; on the other hand, with the concept of syntopia, we provide a concept that could help identify other places of a post capitalocentric economy, likely to be a source of profound change in our society. We propose to develop a ‘syntopology’ whose object would be to study systematically the different forms of syntopias, their characteristics, potentials and limitations. © The Author(s) 2018.

International audience; Recent studies have shown that alternative organizations are particularly exposed to the risk of losing ‘their soul’ or their capacity to put into practice their original ends when they compete with capitalist companies. But what happens when an alternative organization competes exclusively with another alternative organization? This article addresses this question using a unique and ‘revealing’ case, in which two mutual insurance organizations compete structurally and directly with each other and propose the same products to the same target population, at the same time and same place. The case shows in concrete terms how competition can undermine the integrity of alternative organizations and expose them to a dissociation between ends and means by leading them to: (1) adopt ‘dirty’ practices that are incoherent with their founding purpose, (2) circumvent the coherent practices that have been specifically designed to reach their alternative ends, and (3) instrumentalize their alternative ends and turn them into means of coping with competition. Furthermore, the case shows how the dynamic of structural and direct competition, because of its ‘captivating’ nature, may prevent local actors from ‘denaturalizing’ or questioning these incoherent practices. This study suggests that any action aimed at promoting alternative organizations requires taking due account of the competitive environment in which local actors of alternatives are placed and which can seriously undermine their emancipatory potential.

International audience; Psychoanalytic perspectives (such as the Kleinian/Bionian and Lacanian literature) have made significant contributions to the study of affect in organizations. While some have pointed out the affects involved in work tasks, most of this literature generally focuses on the affects linked to organizational life (such as learning, leadership, motivation, power, or change). The center of attention is not on affects associated with the work process itself. We draw from the French psychodynamic theory of Christophe Dejours—who is yet to be known in English language organization studies—to make the following contributions. First, we show the relationship between affect and working by discussing Dejours' notions of affective suffering, the real of work, the significance of the body, and 'ordinary sublimation'. Second, we advance critical research in organization studies by demonstrating the centrality of work in the affective life of the subject. Third, the article reinterprets Menzies' well-known hospital case study to illustrate how Dejours' theory extends existing psychoanalytical approaches, and especially to point to the significant role of the work collective in supporting workers to work well. We conclude by suggesting that if the centrality of work in the affective life of the subject is acknowledged, it follows that resistance strategies, and work collectives' struggle for emancipation, should focus on reclaiming work.

Former les managers de demain, c’est contribuer a ce que seront les organisations et, en consequence, a ce que sera notre societe. Celui qui forme des managers ne peut faire l’economie de reflechir aux questions suivantes : de quelles organisations la societe a-t-elle besoin ? Avec quelles personnes, et avec quelles relations entre celles-ci ? Avec quels managers ?

In this article, we wish to develop further the reflection undertaken by the few authors who have started using Lacan's theories in their research on organizations. We suggest that using a framework based on Lacanian theory can help us better understand workplace envy, which is such a complex emotion, and better integrate the existing studies on organizational envy. Our analysis is based on a clinical case study. Whereas Kleinian theory sees envy as involving two subjects, Lacanian theory approaches envy as a triangular relationship between an envied subject and a quasi similar envious person, watched (approvingly/disapprovingly) by a `big Other'. This theory helps understand that envy and narcissism are related and that they originate at the stage in psychic development that Lacan calls the `mirror stage'. Whereas the Kleinian approach highlights the differences between the Envious and the Envied and the position of dependence of one on the other, Lacanian theory outlines the role of the `double', the symmetrical position of the Envied and the Envious, and the alienation to the Other. The Lacanian approach also enables us to consider interventions in contexts where envy is present.

Among the critical approaches to management and organizations, one has been little explored: it is the Lacanian approach. Furthermore, this perspective has not yet been used to help develop new pedagogical approaches in the field of management education.This is what, for the last 10 years, we have undertaken to do. In this article, we first show that Lacan’s work is particularly relevant in addressing the question of subjectivity and of the construction of one’s identity in the context of work. We then present the management education programme we have implemented in order to enable the participants to question their imaginary beliefs at work and to modify their place in the organizational narratives so as to recover new scope for action. A case study helps us illustrate the processes and the effects of the method we have used. Finally, we discuss the limitations and benefits of this approach, and the precautions that should be taken by those who might wish to use it in one way or another.

Violence is omnipresent in "Two Days, One Night" the latest film by the Dardenne brothers. But does the violence lie with the characters, willing to sacrifice one of their already vulnerable colleagues? Or does it lie with the system, which forces them to make an impossible choice where, ultimately, everyone has something to lose? Using the works of philosopher Slavoj Žižek as our framework, we shall attempt to ponder this question of violence and how it might be overcome.