The Aesthetic Account of Everyday Life in Organizations: A Report on Recent Developments in Organizational Research

This article examines recent advances in organizational studies that disputed the dominance of conventional-positivist paradigms by addressing everyday life in organizations through the lens of aesthetic principles. First, I discuss developments in theory and methods, focusing on the “strong” version of Organizational Aesthetics that defends new conceptions about the nature of organizations and experiences of organizational life. Then, I illustrate this new account using two relevant studies. My research finds that the aesthetic account of organizations provides concepts and modes of analysis able to better respond to current conceptual and practical challenges both in organizational research and arts management.