Historical Female Management Theorists

The appearance of Kristin Williams’ exquisitely produced, and provocatively written book creates a true sense of excitement for all of us expecting feminist theorizing to continue as a legitimate research and theory development area in the field of organization studies. This book offers three important contributions to the field: first, it brings to visibility four female historical figures whose ideas, often unrecognized, are present in the field’s lexicon. Second, it accomplishes this aim by developing a novel theoretical framework bridging feminist theory and critical historiography. Finally, a creative methodology -ficto-feminism- brings to the present these figures’ lively voices, inviting all of us to partake in their conversations. An extraordinary accomplishment to work with in extraordinary times!

-- Marta B. Calás, Professor of Organization Studies and International Management Isenberg School of Management University of Massachusetts - Amherst

How many times, when reading a biography of a woman who was no longer with us, we dreamt about a conversation we could have with her, asking her questions and receiving answers that could change our lives… Kristin Williams has fulfilled this kind of dream. Introducing ficto-feminism to management and organization studies, she emboldens us to use a variety of methods and approaches heretofore unknown in our discipline. May the conversation with the feminists continue into history!

-- Barbara Czarniawska, Senior Professor of Management Studies, Gothenburg Research Institute, University of Gothenburg

Historical Female Management Theorists is a must read for anyone wanting to learn about women figures in management history. A beautifully written and engaging book which houses historical archival research, feminist and historical inquiry in management, and fictional writing. Methodologically precise, representationally creative, and theoretically sophisticated."

-- Alison Pullen, Editor, Gender, Work & Organization Professor of Management and Organizational Studies, Macquarie University

This book feels the pulse of contemporary feminist thought, finds it to be lively and inventive and then, finding it/us receptive to new intellectual endeavours, takes us on a series of adventures. What adventures! Readers not only find a new methodology, ficto-feminism, but also a new way of writing that draws on the devices used by authors of fictional works. Along the way we are introduced to a new way of doing management history. Through the re-discovery of four pioneering female thinkers Kristin (the use of her given name is deliberate) invites us to explore the practices that erase women from history. She tracks the consequences of that invisibilization, notably the ways in which the academic discipline of management and leadership became constrained within an over-arching and stultifying way of thinking about how work should and must be done. By introducing us to Frances Perkins, Hallie Flanagan, Madeleine Parent and Viola Desmond, Kristin offers us four proto-management theorists and feminist icons who open ways of thinking (and writing and dreaming) differently about management and organisations. This important and timely book invites us into a conversation in which we may find ways to dismantle those taken-for-granted structuring devices that have dominated the field of management and organisation studies for far too long. It offers inspiration and guidance to anyone who wants to break free of the oppressive weight of much contemporary MOS thought.

-- Nancy Harding, Professor of Management Strategy & Organization, University of Bath

"Kristin Williams engages in a genre-blending experiment that breaks the conventional framing of historical writing in management history in a highly creative and original way. This book will be of interest to all scholars and students of management who are interested in writing differently as a means of disrupting hegemonic modes of knowledge production and exploring alternatives."

-- Emma Bell, Professor, Organization Studies, Faculty of Business & Law, The Open University Business School

"In this deeply personal and political book, Kristin Williams takes us into the remarkable lives of four North American women activists in labor, civil rights and the arts in the early twentieth century. Blurring the genres of history and fiction into ‘ficto-feminism’, she breaks patriarchal narratives to recover them as makers of history. Yet, as history is fiction, Kristin is not interested in truth claims. Her activist writing rather develops through engaging, intimate conversations, in which she interweaves herself, reflectively, into the text. Determined to “challenge our understanding of what is worthy knowledge and where it can be found”, she rewrites these brave, intelligent and complex women’s pioneering ideas and work into management and organization studies. Thanks to her imagination,these women inspire us to transgress. I cannot think of any better reason to read this book!"

-- Patrizia Zononi, Professor, Organization Studies, Faculty of Business Economics, Hasselt University

Journey with Williams as she bridges the historical divide and engages in conversation with proto-management theorists Frances Perkins, Hallie Flanagan, Madeline Parent, and Viola Desmond. Using the fascinating activist method of ficto-feminism, Williams introduces us to women who have been ignored because they didn’t meet the gender and ideological requirements of traditional management scholars. Her work opens a door that will draw you in to letting go of convention and illuminating the pluralities of histories in management theory.

-- Patricia Genoe McLaren, President, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, Associate Dean, Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, Wilfrid Laurier Univer