Organized Bodies: Gender, Sexuality and Embodiment in Contemporary Organizations

Abstract

A defining feature of the Weberian ideal-type is that bureaucracies are governed by a formal set of rules and procedures which ensure that operations and activities are carried out in a predictable, uniform and impersonal manner. Within this rational-legal model ‘personal’ (i.e. non-bureaucratic) relationships are excluded from organizational life, and only bureaucratically legitimated forms of power can operate. The model has been widely debated since its first appearance (see Albrow, 1970; Jackson, 1982, for reviews) but in recent years two particularly stringent critiques have emerged.