Business ethics from the standpoint of redemption: Adorno on the Possibility of Good Work

Reeves, C. and Sinnicks, M. (2021) Business ethics from the standpoint of redemption: Adorno on the Possibility of Good Work. Business Ethics Quarterly, 31 (4). pp. 500-523. ISSN 2153-3326 doi: 10.1017/beq.2020.45

Abstract/Summary

Given his view that the modern world is ‘radically evil’, Adorno is an unlikely contributor to business ethics. Despite this, we argue that his work has a number of provocative implications for the field that warrant wider attention. Adorno regards our social world as damaged, unfree, and false and we draw on this critique to outline why the achievement of good work is so rare in contemporary society, focusing in particular on the ethical demands of roles and the ideological nature of management’s self-understanding. Nevertheless, we show that Adorno’s comments on activities such as art and philosophy mean that it is possible to draw on his work in a way that contributes constructively to the conversation about good and meaningful work within business ethics.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/98452
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/beq.2020.45
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Leadership, Organisations and Behaviour
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
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