Iteration as an Anarchist Organizational Management Practice

Rationality and technocracy dominate organizational management theory and practice. Both also dominate various academic and professional disciplines able to draw on organizational management for knowledge. This study interrogates this domination. More specifically, I draw on anthropological, anarchist, community development, organizational management literatures, and ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2018 and 2020 at a Community Land Trust. Here, I encountered organizational management theory and practice rooted in non-rationalist and non-technocratic traditions. The specific non-rationalist and non-technocratic tradition I encounter lies within the tradition of anarchy; thus, I refer to it as anarchist organizational management practice. Drawing on this understanding of management I encounter something I call iteration as an anarchist organizational management practice. On this basis, this essay seeks to introduce and further develop an understanding of iteration as an anarchist organizational management practice. And here, I ultimately argue for anarchist organizational management practice(s) to be further studied within and outside of organizational management studies (OMS), for the benefit of managers in all types of organizational settings in order to advance organizational performance and social justice outcomes.