Oral History and Organizational Research: Challenges of Building Knowledge about the Past

Oral history has been increasingly used in management research in recent years, bringing to the forefront the view of individuals about past organizational phenomena. However, this use has not yet fully explored the construction of knowledge about the past. Instead, it has focused on studying the present and, therefore, hardly distinguishes oral history from qualitative methods such as case studies and in-depth interviews. How then should we use oral history and its historiography that has made it quite distinctive in history? How should we use individuals’ views to construct new knowledge of the past? This paper addresses these two questions, advocating for the use of oral history both as a theoretical-methodological approach and subfield of history, as well as firmly engaged with historical organizational studies. To that end, we review the trajectory of oral history, then we analyze 16 Brazilian papers on oral history, highlighting the distinctive characteristics of the approach, and, finally, we present research possibilities in historical organizational studies.

Animal Welfare and Social Innovation: Evidence from a Case Study in Southern Brazil

This study examined the Cão Terapia (Dog Therapy) project, developed by a civil society organization, in order to verify how it generates social innovation based on practices focused on animal welfare. It is a qualitative case study, with an exploratory and descriptive approach. It consists of literature review, documentary research, participant observation, and interviews with volunteers and managers of the Bem-Animal organization. Bem-Animal seeks to promote the welfare of animals rescued by the government after complaints of abuse, being run over, and other serious situations. We found that the initiatives of this organization result in social innovation, above all, by providing social actions contrary to the speciesist, instrumental, and consumerist mentalities. They contribute to an experience of ethical precepts and to the consolidation of rights for non-human animals within the society.

Transference and Subjective Implication: Psychoanalytic Reflections on an Action Research

This paper aims to use the Freudian psychoanalytic approach to explain the process of interaction between researchers and subjects participating in action research, bringing a new contribution to organizational studies. It is hoped that this research will promote the self-reflection of researchers in this research process, highlighting the complexities of the transferential dynamics and subjective implication of field interactions. With this objective in mind, key psychoanalytic concepts are explored and definitions of action research are presented. This is achieved by describing how it was carried out in a waste pickers’ association, as well as how the reciprocal influences between the subjects participating in the research are constituted and the constituents of the research and its results, through an analysis of the transferential dynamics and subjective implications between those involved.

Rethinking Border Studies: Participation and Social Innovation in Border Zone Development

The study of emerging forms of public engagement and collective action is crucial for understanding the ongoing democratic dynamics, citizenship, and the constitution of the city's public problems. To recognize how the field of frontier studies is inseparable from the processes of experience of actors, this study focuses on the importance of the social innovation ecosystem (SIE) for the development of frontier zones. Specifically, this study revisits the main instruments of public management and border development policies to emphasize figures of civil society and their collective mobilizations on the Brazil-Bolivia border, recognizing social innovation initiatives and the main challenges they seek to solve. This path of public investigation allowed us to understand the territorial dimension of borders and expand their meaning as a living space by giving light to the actors' practices, identifying how they mobilize to repair socio-environmental inequalities.

Bem-estar Animal e Inovação Social: Evidências a partir de um Estudo de Caso no Sul do Brasil

This study examined the Cão Terapia (Dog Therapy) project, developed by a civil society organization, in order to verify how it generates social innovation based on practices focused on animal welfare. It is a qualitative case study, with an exploratory and descriptive approach. It consists of literature review, documentary research, participant observation, and interviews with volunteers and managers of the Bem-Animal organization. Bem-Animal seeks to promote the welfare of animals rescued by the government after complaints of abuse, being run over, and other serious situations. We found that the initiatives of this organization result in social innovation, above all, by providing social actions contrary to the speciesist, instrumental, and consumerist mentalities. They contribute to an experience of ethical precepts and to the consolidation of rights for non-human animals within the society.

A Construção de Saberes no Trabalho do Tatuador: um Olhar sob a Perspectiva da Abordagem Estética

The present study analyzes how and what knowledge constitutes the daily work of tattooing in light of the organizational aesthetic approach. For this purpose, the authors explore the theme of knowledge at work by considering the knowledge produced in the daily life of this practice, analyzing the interaction between different knowings, artifacts, and practices. The study used techniques of participant observation and narrative interviews, with data analysis through thematic analysis of narratives. The practice of tattooing consists of six types of knowledge: (a) creation and/or reproduction of the design; (b) doings and sayings related to each practice; (c) manipulation of artifacts; (d) technique; (e) body movement; (f) activation of the human senses. Shedding light on the knowledge of the practice of tattooing brings to the focus of organizational studies the importance of the aesthetic dimension, proposing an alternative for the logical-rational understanding of the organizational context.

Discourses and Educational Initiatives for Developing Sustainability Competences of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development

The adoption of the logic of developing sustainable development (SD) competences in the business environment has grown both in the literature in the area and in business initiative programs. One player that emerges with the aim of assuming leadership in this process is the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). This article aims to answer the following research question: Are the WBCSD’s discourses and initiatives for developing sustainability competences spaces of various translations of corporate sustainability or a place for reaffirming logocentric and definitive discourses on the theme? For this, we analyzed the institutional documents (Vision 2050 and Action 2020) and carried out a series of on-site visits at the Brazilian and Portuguese BCSDs. In addition, we conducted a set of in-depth interviews with the managers and participants in the initiatives for developing sustainability competences (DSC). The data were analyzed according to the categories of Derrida’s deconstruction process. The analysis of the educational initiatives of the Brazilian and Portuguese BCSDs showed that they include the various discourses on corporate sustainability in their formative approach; however, logocentric and definitive thinking about the theme is reaffirmed in that the way the Vision 2050 guidelines are carried out is limited to the application of management tools.

Transferência e Implicação Subjetiva: Reflexões Psicanalíticas a partir de uma Pesquisa-Ação

This paper aims to use the Freudian psychoanalytic approach to explain the process of interaction between researchers and subjects participating in action research, bringing a new contribution to organizational studies. It is hoped that this research will promote the self-reflection of researchers in this research process, highlighting the complexities of the transferential dynamics and subjective implication of field interactions. With this objective in mind, key psychoanalytic concepts are explored and definitions of action research are presented. This is achieved by describing how it was carried out in a waste pickers’ association, as well as how the reciprocal influences between the subjects participating in the research are constituted and the constituents of the research and its results, through an analysis of the transferential dynamics and subjective implications between those involved.

Socio-environmental Impact of Research

Reflecting about the future of Earth and its inhabitants is essential to ensure a possible tomorrow. Therefore, socio-environmental impact shall become a universal and inevitable concern of researchers, educational institutions and scientific research regulatory agencies. Social and environmental impacts, in all senses, must be considered into any production of knowledge. Some questions help incorporate this conduct in academic research: How can research ensure effective socio-environmental impacts on society? What is the best way to conduct research so that it has positive social and environmental impacts from the beginning? How can research be fully dedicated to generating positive socio-environmental impacts in every step? We concluded that socio-environmental impacts must be considered just as much or even more important than those of socioeconomic and technological nature.

Repensando os Estudos Fronteiriços: Participação e Inovação Social no Desenvolvimento das Zonas de Fronteiras

The study of emerging forms of public engagement and collective action is crucial for understanding the ongoing democratic dynamics, citizenship, and the constitution of the city's public problems. To recognize how the field of frontier studies is inseparable from the processes of experience of actors, this study focuses on the importance of the social innovation ecosystem (SIE) for the development of frontier zones. Specifically, this study revisits the main instruments of public management and border development policies to emphasize figures of civil society and their collective mobilizations on the Brazil-Bolivia border, recognizing social innovation initiatives and the main challenges they seek to solve. This path of public investigation allowed us to understand the territorial dimension of borders and expand their meaning as a living space by giving light to the actors' practices, identifying how they mobilize to repair socio-environmental inequalities.