A world changed: What post-9/11 stories tell us about the position of America, purpose of business, and meaning of work

Abstract

The 9/11 terrorist attacks manifested change in the world around us and caused many people to reevaluate their work and lives. Nearly two decades later, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see the effects of changing political power on the American Dream—and, in turn, on the perceived purpose of business organizations and individuals’ experience of the meaning of work. To study these phenomena through a diversity of perspectives, we examine four post-9/ 11 stories in which business is a central force: Art Spiegelman’s 2004 graphic comix storyboard, In the Shadow of No Towers; Mohsin Hamid’s 2007 novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s 2015 musical, Come from Away; and Laila Lalami’s 2019 novel, The Other Americans. These stories encourage us to reflect on the causes and consequences of 9/11 and to consider how systems of political power, economic organizations, and work have changed and should change. They also challenge management scholars to think about what this means for our own scholarship, teaching, and practice—in particular, who capitalism is for, what business is for, and why we work.