There are alternatives! Navigating tensions in critical management education

Abstract

Business schools have been accused of reproducing management practices that lead to global crises, sparking calls for greater sensitivity to critical management education. However, while there is much academic work on the need for critical pedagogy, documented practical experience of how this works in the classroom remains scarce. Drawing on our experience in designing and teaching a course that deconstructs naturalized “management commandments,” we reveal three interwoven tensions that help explain this limitation: institutional pressures, relational challenges, and personal vulnerabilities. Our analysis shows how integrating reflexivity with an exposure to experiences of alternative organizations helps to bridge these tensions, making critical management education both accessible and relevant. Our contributions are twofold. First, we illustrate how critical management can be practiced in the classroom by anchoring the scrutiny of mainstream naturalized practices in the emergence of alternative organizations. Second, we demonstrate that the tensions and contradictions of the neoliberal university are not merely obstacles, but generative forces that—when met with reflexivity—can foster deeper engagement and broaden the scope of management education.