Modernism, Postmodernism and Organizational Analysis 4: The Contribution of Jürgen Habermas

Abstract

This article is the fourth in a series published by this journal on the relevance to organization studies of the postmodernism-modernism debate. It begins with a brief preface in which some recent developments in the field are placed in context and then goes on to analyze the work of Jürgen Habermas. As a 'critical modern ist' his ideas have a saliency for all those interested in defending organization theory from the charge that our discipline offers no means of preventing our involvement in the next Holocaust. If Habermas is the 'last modernist' then it may be that he represents one last chance for the discipline ... as we currently understand it.