Critical Theorising, Taylorist Practice, and the International Labor Organization

Recent attempts by critical management scholars to extend their influence in the academy and amongst practicing managers have been hampered by the fact that most critical theorists lack a critical practice. This deficiency has generated the oft-stated assertion that while the critical tradition may be able to critique mainstream management theory it offers little that is of practical value even to managers of a progressive bent. Accepting that this criticism needs to be confronted, this historical case study explores the joint contribution made to critical management thought and practice by the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and the Taylor Society. The latter body was a U.S. organisation that had as its primary goal the development and diffusion of the ideas of Frederick Winslow Taylor. Through the interwar years the Society was widely acknowledged as the intellectual home of industrial democracy and critical humanism within the U.S. management movement. The predominant perspective shared by its members was that reason has relevance for interrogating and transforming managerial practice in ways that extend beyond the problems defined by those in positions of authority. These individuals also queried whether existing ends generated needless waste and divisiveness and accepted that the measure of good management is the extent to which practice extends both democracy and sustainable development. Adhering to this progressiv