Politics and Organizational Life Workshop
Exploring how geopolitics, nationalism, ideology, and political narratives enter organizational life and shape strategy, intelligence, and behavior.
Workshop Overview
On May 1, 2026, the Politics and Organizational Life Workshop was hosted by the Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Management Department at the Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta. Thanks to Bryan Spencer, Mingxuan Li, Michael Lounsbury, Emily Block, and other colleagues at the University of Alberta for putting together such a wonderful event.
The workshop was built on the premise that our increasingly interconnected world is also becoming more fragile. Global challenges—including geopolitics, nationalism, democratic erosion, climate change, and economic exploitation—are deeply intertwined with forces of ideology and politics. Political narratives, nationalist sentiments, and competing ideologies not only shape the external environments of firms and societies but also permeate organizations, influencing strategy, intelligence, and behavior across micro, meso, and macro levels.
Featured Contributions
Christina Lubinski
Christina Lubinski discussed the implications of nationalism for organizational theory research.
Lori Yue
Yue delivered an agenda-setting talk on organizational nationalism, highlighting how computational measurement can help researchers examine how firms not only respond to nationalist environments but also actively adopt and disseminate nationalist discourses.
Claus Rerup
Rerup encouraged participants to foreground ambiguity and politics and to explore the “dark forest” of the backstage and the less visible dimensions of organizational life.
Jerry Davis
Davis served as the discussant and offered insightful reflections on the presentations.
Roundtable Discussions
The workshop also featured roundtable discussions and research talks. Panelists were excited to engage in thoughtful conversations with faculty, Ph.D. students, alumni, and visiting scholars at the University of Alberta.