Indexed in Scopus and ranked in SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR), puntOorg International Journal is committed to rigorous peer review and international scholarly dissemination. puntOorg International Journal is an open access, peer-reviewed, international journal, whose major aim is to advance scientific knowledge publishing outstanding research rooted in the tradition of human and social sciences. The journal features contributions that adopt ethnographic, critical and interpretive approaches as practiced in such disciplines as organizational, managerial, economical, legal, sociological, pedagogical, and cultural studies. puntOorg International Journal is interested in investigating decision-making processes by exploring psychological, sociological and pedagogical dynamics and individual and organizational learning processes through the lens of mathematics and philosophy, historical studies, literature, poetry, and music. In this sense, pIJ’s aim is to present papers that advance our conceptual understanding of social phenomena. In this sense, pIJ’s aim is to present papers that advance our conceptual understanding of social phenomena.
pIJ issues are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, International Licence CC-BY-NC-ND, which permits to copy and distribute the material for noncommercial (NC) purposes only, in any medium or format in unadapted form only (ND). All the details on the license are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Life Among the Pages: Studying, Researching and Teaching through Barbara Czarniawska
This article offers an autobiographical and reflexive engagement with the work of Barbara Czarniawska, foregrounding the epistemic and pedagogical value of narrative methodologies in contemporary social science research. Drawing on Czarniawska’s theorisation of narrative as both method and object, the contribution explores how auto/biographical writing functions as a space of mediation between life, text, and scholarly identity. Through a personal re-reading structured around Hernadi’s triad of explication, explanation, and exploration, the article reconstructs three formative moments in the author’s academic trajectory as student, doctoral researcher, and lecturer each corresponding to a different mode of engagement with Czarniawska’s thought. Rather than treating biography and autobiography as self-referential or methodologically weak genres, the paper argues that narrative reflexivity constitutes a necessary condition for sensemaking in organizational and social studies. By situating Czarniawska not merely as an object of study but as an active presence within the author’s own narrative practice, the article demonstrates how scholarly identities are performatively constituted through storytelling. In doing so, it challenges positivist assumptions about objectivity and generalisability, reaffirming narrative inquiry as a rigorous and ethically grounded approach to knowledge production. Ultimately, the article positions Czarniawska’s legacy as a living methodological invitation, one that continues to shape how scholars learn, teach, and narrate the social world.
Copyright (c) 2026 puntOorg International Journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Review of "The Documentary Audit: Listening and the Limits of Accountability" (P. Rangan)
Copyright (c) 2025 puntOorg International Journal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Don’t Call for a Dialogue! This is Not Death of a Salesman
Is dialogue still possible? In what forms and under what conditions? In this article, I attempt to answer these questions by reflecting on how dia-logue has lost its logos, that is, how exchanges organised around rational argumentative logic have been unsettled by both the unbridled proliferation of phantasmatic imaginaries and a renewed emphasis on corporeality, and hence on pathos, on embodied sensing as a locus of epistemic and ethico-political insight. I first reconstruct how organizational and feminist scholarship has proposed to centre dialogue on pathos, while also highlighting the limits of this perspective. I then suggest conceiving dialogue in aporetic terms, acknowledging and sustaining the tension between logos and pathos, between the rational signification of language and that which inevitably escapes it. Finally, I offer an example of a dialogue on care drawn from a two-day community study event, illustrating how such an aporetic form of dialogue is both (im)possible and necessary for the building of community. Dialogue thus becomes itself a device of care, unsettling the boundaries between public and private, rational and affective, masculine and feminine, truth and opinion.
--- Curation notes - Standing in the Pre-formative: snippets of creative processes in writing movements ---
--- Curation notes - Plugging it in: This is really interesting, but what are you going to do with it ---
Laboratory of Sound and Painting Differently (LOSPD)
Drawing inspiration from Charles Burney’s description of Naples as a vibrant musical city, the review explores the Laboratory of Sound and Painting Differently (LOSPD), developed by the Scuola Superiore Meridionale within the PROBEN APPbenessere project in the academic year 2024-2025. Led by visual artist Veronica Bisesti and musician Bernardo Maria Sannino, the Laboratory engaged students in weekly sessions that integrated gesture, sound, and painting. The artistic, educational, and social outcomes of the Laboratory demonstrate how interdisciplinary and multimodal practices contribute to well-being in an academic context, extending their impact beyond the university to the local territory and community.
--- Curation notes: Assemblages of Exhaustion and Fractured Gatherings: The Academic(Un)ConferenceMachine at Work ---
--- Curation notes - Carctography-ing: sympoietic journeys through conference spaces ---
Introduction to Special Section: Experimenting with the AcademicConferenceMachine
Kaleidoscopic Leadership: Emerging Perspectives and Future Directions
Leadership remains one of the most studied yet contested constructs in organizational research. This article examines leadership through a kaleidoscopic lens, reviewing theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches spanning across individual, dyadic, group, organizational, and institutional levels of analysis. Drawing on foundational theories of power, social exchange, social networks, paradox, and identity, we show how leadership has been conceptualized both as a personal attribute and as a relational, collective, and symbolic process. Our analysis highlights the proliferation of perspectives that, while illuminating distinct dimensions of the leadership construct, have too often evolved in isolation. After a brief discussion of these perspectives, we argue for the integration of theories, the adoption of multi-level lenses, and the use of multimethod approaches to capture leadership as a complex, socially embedded process. We conclude by outlining future research directions.
Remembering Barbara, learning from Professor Czarniawska
Through a reflective dialogue between two Polish women academics living and working in the United Kingdom, this article explores the intellectual legacy of Professor Barbara Czarniawska. The dialogue focuses, on the one hand, on Barbara’s role as a mentor and champion of women in academia, particularly those navigating higher education systems in countries in which they are foreigners. On the other, it highlights Professor Barbara Czarniawska’s outstanding contribution to the field of management and organisation studies (MOS), emphasising her methodological and theoretical innovations, as well as her interdisciplinary approach to studying and building knowledge about organisations. We also draw attention to the importance of Professor Barbara Czarniawska’s legacy as a source of inspiration for future generations of students, educators, and researchers, encouraging them to follow Barbara as a role model for all those who wish to approach the study of organisations with curiosity, creativity and commitment to making a meaningful contribution to society.
Barbara Czarniawska: At home in translation
Some get lost in translation; Barbara Czarniawska was at home in it. Early in my career, she helped me translate my vague sense that organizational performances were stories into the more precise concept of narratives which, allowed me to connect organizational studies with literary theory. Through her teaching, notably her course From Field to Desk, she guided PhD students in translating fieldwork into theoretical insights, balancing methodological rigor with openness. Drawing on Latour and Callon, Czarniawska framed translation as a process of adapting ideas across contexts, for example, shaping practices of urban management. Her work on overflow, a mistranslation of rugby’s cadrage-débordement, demonstrated how concepts can evolve productively even when repurposed. Her action net theory, a translation of Actor-Network Theory, redefined organizations as dynamic webs of interconnected actions. A polyglot, Czarniawska also translated scholarly and literary texts into Polish, merging academic rigor with personal passion. For her, translation was never merely literal; it was a creative act that makes it possible for ideas to travel, transform, and flourish across boundaries.
Barbara Czarniawska’s work on translation has nurtured several lines of organization research, inspired generations of researchers and continues to provoke us to do fieldwork and to carefully reflect upon conceptual frameworks to make sense of what we see. In this paper we first depict various ways in which translation studies have evolved. We then pick up the very idea of bundles of ideas, that we find to be repeatedly emphasized by Czarniawska in describing processes of idea circulation and also being such an important feature of the translation framework as such. We suggest an ecological approach to translations to put to the fore the interplay among ideas as well as between ideas, actors and spaces. With the conceptualization of ecologies of translation, we thus bring forward three important aspects of the translation framework as developed and used by Barbara Czarniawska - the focus on bundles of ideas, the understanding that circulation of ideas is characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity, and a notion of actors as embedded and changing – and we open venues for continued research to develop the understanding of these aspects of translation.
From Networks of Actions to Networks of Thoughts: The Art, and the Need, of Creating a Dialogue Among People
This paper collects sketches of our intellectual and personal journeys that Barbara Czarniawska put in an ongoing dialogue. The conversation throughout the journey stimulated joint publications, ideas embedded in individual publications, presentations of chaotic ideas, ideas never turned into publication, books and papers imagined but never meant to write. In this paper, recalling our talks with Barbara Czarniawska, we reflect upon our own thirty-year long conversation and upon Barbara Czarniawska’s imprinting on this ongoing conversation.
Dix ans après. puntOorg International Journal : A Story of Care, Critique and Community
This article reflects on the first dix ans après of puntOorg International Journal (pIJ), situating it as both an academic journal and an organizational experiment. From the very beginning, pIJ chose to interrogate the sources of thought that nourish Management and Organization Studies (MOS), hypothesizing that, as a construct only a few centuries old, it can still be nourished and refreshed by ancient, millennia-old forms of knowledge: sound, which in being a “natural sign” is codified as Music; the logos, which becomes Philosophy; color, which becomes Painting; and so on. Born within the puntOorg International Research Network in 2015, pIJ has pursued a distinctive vocation: to combine rigor and care, critique and community, and disciplinary plurality. We explore how pIJ has cultivated a polyphonic and international governance structure, an ethos of care that permeates both processes and texts, and an epistemological orientation grounded in entanglement; conceiving organizing as an inextricable weave of bodies, affects, sweat, technologies, and discourses. The journal’s editorial practices, such as open access, fee-free publication, long-running calls, dialogical writing formats, and transparency in peer review, embody a political stance toward inclusivity, collegiality, and the democratization of knowledge. Through its thematic volumes, pIJ has entangled critical debates in MOS, while embracing contaminations with philosophy, the arts, and cultural studies. In doing so, pIJ positions itself as both a laboratory and a critical infrastructure: a Table Ronde where knowledge emerges through dialogue, recognition, and care, and where organising and writing are inseparable from the vulnerabilities and responsibilities of academic life.
Assemblages of Fractured Gatherings: The Academic(Un)ConferenceMachine at Work
Academic conferences are intended to foster knowledge transfer, networking, and innovation, yet they often reproduce rigid formats that limit creativity, engagement, and meaningful exchange. In response, unconference formats have emerged as alternatives that aim to disrupt established norms and encourage inclusivity, creativity, and new modes of knowledge production. This paper explores the lived experiences of academics—organizers, presenters, and participants—navigating what we term the conferencing machine. The concept highlights how conferences have become vehicles for neoliberal forces, imposing logics of competition, productivity, and institutional dominance rather than fostering dialogue and progress. Drawing on post-qualitative inquiry and data from attendees, presenters and organizers, we assemble a polyphonic story of subjectivities and lived experiences. Our findings reveal how academic gatherings, even unconferencing formats, are widely experienced as redundant, hierarchical, and resistant to innovation, contributing to fatigue, cynicism, and hostile social dynamics. Yet, we also identify moments of effective disruption in uncoference doing that generate opportunities for resonance, critique, and spontaneous collaboration. These insights not only document current developments in academia but also point to the urgent need for formats that foreground playfulness, kindness, and curiosity, and ultimately reimagine the possibilities of scholarly knowledge creation.
Standing in the pre-formative: snippets of creative processes in writing movements
In this paper, a group of writers from the University of Edinburgh experiments with the pre-formative as that which stands in opposition to the planned performance that the AcademicConferenceMachine fosters, encourages and demands. In the space opened up by the pre-formative, writing becomes an unindividuated improvisation rather than a finished piece performed by the autonomous individual. Bringing together processual snippets from the group members, in this paper we follow the struggle for words to land on the page. This stage of writing, whilst generally hidden because of its lacking of form, here becomes space of creative possibility and resistance. The snippets presented in this paper show the richness and potential that ordinary, minor movements can have both for the fostering of intimacies that trouble authorial individuality and for the resistance that they produce against the regulating and standardizing tendencies of the AcademicConferenceMachine.
Plugging it in: This is really interesting, but what are you going to do with it
Three early career academics walk into a conference space with nothing but a poster-size image of an old computer displaying a QR code and a cheat sheet with a few defined terms. Armed with a playful approach and willingness to figure out how to use the big display looming over them in the room, the authors interact with their peers, tenured and non-tenured faculty members, and are confronted with the question: “This is interesting, but what are you going to do with it?” What follows are debates around Artificial Intelligence, higher ed ethics, the AcademicConferenceMachine, institutional hierarchies, and of course, phytosexuality. In this paper, we sit with the question and explore what normative intentions might be hiding behind it. We reflect on what happens when early-stage researchers unsettle the AcademicConferenceMachine, the potentials of conferencing differently, the dangers of taking risks, and the seedlings of hope that we can turn the (dreaded) question on its head and ask right back at it: “This is interesting, and what are we going to become with it?”
Carctography-ing : sympoietic journeys through conference spaces
In this contribution, I re-turn — in Karen Barad’s discussion — to conference moments over the past decade in different locations spanning Southeast Mediterranean, Western Europe and the Americas. In so doing, concept-creation and research-creation are mobilised along undisciplined thinking problematising -isms affects of conference spaces. -Isms affects are those forces emerging from and subscribing all to the violences of imperialism, colonialism, scientism, capitalism, neoliberalism. In such approach, cartography is evoked as a mode of experimenting with walking, artmaking and writing and a way of making-with peoples and places; stories and heritages; lived experience and scholarship; atmospheres and moments of angst and joy. This kind of practicing is rhizomatic and exceeds binaries such as the conference venue and hosting town/country, the local and global, the here and there, the now and then. It is relational and embodied; artistic and activist; in movement and fluidity. Carctography-ing, then, emerges as an ethico-onto-political practice defying linear timespace, mapping diverse connections, animating potentials for new ways of thinking and doing cartography and academic writing and opening spaces to think differently research and inquiry.
Ilaria Boncori, Researching and Writing Differently, Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2022
Between Kelsen as legal theorist and Kelsen as political philosopher: a systematic premise for overcoming the dichotomy
This research aims to examine the apparent dichotomy between Hans Kelsen as legal theorist and Hans Kelsen as political philosopher. The article sheds light on how the established discourse is oriented around a clear “divide” believed to exist between Kelsen’s theoretical and political perspectives. It is particularly emphasized how Kelsen's democratic political stance is often overshadowed by his more well-known identity as a legal theorist. The article also addresses concerns related to the perceived lack of relevance in Kelsen's political thinking. The working hypotheses, aimed at overcoming this dichotomy, suggest that depersonalization of the State, redefinition of the role of Parliament and requalification of the concepts of democracy and Constitution are crucial elements in understanding the intersection between Kelsen’s legal theory and political philosophy. Finally, on a constructive note, the article argues that a unified interpretation of Kelsen’s thought could renew the relevance of his doctrine. Once the dichotomy is overcome, it is not far-fetched to consider a structural and functional model which could address current challenges, such as the alleged “democratic deficit” in the European Union.
M. Cozza, A, Carreri and B. Poggio (eds.), Ethics of Engagement in Research Practices. Reseponse-ability in Organization and Managaement’ by, New York: Routledge, 2025
This is a story about Barbara Czarniawska. This is my story about Barbara. How I first got to know her through her texts, how I later met with her in person, attended her course, how I was inspired by her ideas and how I got to know her in the virtual world as well. It is a personal story and perspective, where I draw upon my experiences, to share some parts of what I think is the legacy of Barbara, the ideas she brought forward and the usefulness of those. There are many more parts to share, and I realise that I in this text only demonstrate a fraction of her ideas and heritage. Nevertheless, I hope this text does her justice, that the stories I share gives inspiration to discover her writings more in-depth, and that it provides a story of how she was as a person – her generosity, humour and curiosity. Also, I hope the plots are well aligned and easy to follow as a reader, in line with what Barbara thought was important in writing texts. Let the story begin …
The well-versed Czarniawska reader might complain about the selection of publications made in this short essay. This is only fair under the condition that the purpose was to provide a representative view of Barbara Czarniawska’s work. This is not the case. Rather, the essay is a personal statement, dealing with the texts that have touched me the most during my career. The text kick-starts with my observation that she was exactly like the band Motörhead: A moving constant. From this observation, the rest of the text folds out as follows: paralogy, epistemology, performativity and mobility. I end with a short comment about the character of the author Barbara Czarniawska.
This article explores the concept of "action nets," introduced by Barbara Czarniawska. Unlike traditional organizational studies that focus on structures, entities, or predefined boundaries, the action net perspective emphasizes the connections between actions, arguing that organizations emerge as a result of these interactions rather than existing a priori. The article positions action nets in relation to organizational fields, networks, and actor-network theory, highlighting its unique focus on temporality, fluidity, and the interplay between human and non-human actors. The article also discusses the widespread application of action nets across disciplines, demonstrating its relevance in studies of policy implementation, technology, accounting, and institutional change. By shifting attention from organizations to the processes that constitute them, the action net framework offers a valuable lens for understanding contemporary forms of organizing, such as open innovation, platform organizations, and crisis response.
Methodological encounters in a third space: ethnological field-working with Barbara Czarniawska
This article reflects on the intellectual presence and influence of Barbara Czarniawska, particularly in relation to her contributions to the field of organizational research methodology. Drawing on our personal encounters with Barbara and engagement with her prolific writings, we explore two core aspects of field-working: (1) the researcher’s role as a sense-maker and ethnologist of organizational practices; and, (2) the concept of ‘shadowing’ and its value as a methodological disposition when researching fluid processes of organizing. These dimensions are not mutually exclusive but instead converge to create what we contend is a third space—a conceptual and research-practice domain in which fieldwork becomes more enriched and actor-oriented. We explore and explicate a central distinction that Barbara draws between "ethnology of organizing" and "organizational ethnography". The former engages with the meaning-making processes that emerge from fieldwork, capitalizing on the richness and pertinence of direct field experience. “Organizational ethnography”, on the other hand, is a term that Barbara is inclined to view disparagingly because it so often equates to mere “data collection” and recording procedures. Barbara’s methodological guidance also highlights the importance of language and narrative in ethnology, and her approach aligns more closely with anthropological traditions than those of management and organization studies. By advocating for an ethnology of organizing, she encourages researchers to view organizing as interconnected and relational sets of ongoing processes which can be narratively recovered by participating and learning with actors.
Wellness in crisis: Theorizing wellbeing in unsettled times
Wellbeing research has proliferated in recent years, both in terms of affirmative, largely psychological research on its antecedents and consequences, and in terms of critical research that decries the ideological aspects of corporate wellbeing as a symptom of neoliberal workplaces. These literatures take special importance in time of social and economic turmoil, marked by global health crises, climate and environmental crises, and geopolitical crises. The current thematic issue collects diverse contributions around wellbeing in unsettled times, examining how wellbeing and its discourses shape how we think about work and life in the current conjuncture. We briefly summarize our motivation and background literature around wellbeing, after which we present and synthesize the works in the current collection. Finally, in a more speculative vein, we imagine a series of questions and topics that characterize the possibilities for wellbeing research in a future that is likely marked by ongoing social, cultural and economic transformations.
I loved Barbara Cziarnawska. How hard it is to write that sentence in the past tense, as we start doing as soon as we hear of someone passing. I’m very old, and the passing of dear friends has become common—though never “routine.” It hurts every time. When Barbara or Richard or Stefano left this world I felt again the tears of things. Get ready to get old. And you know the vague, wholly absurd resentment we feel when a loved one dies. Why did the beloved so cruelly abandon poor little moi? Oh, Barbara, dearest Barbara: why are you not still here, to correct and inspire us and teach us?