1. Consider how the theory of neoliberalism has influenced OB. Which theories examined in this chapter do you think are most relevant to the analysis of OB in the early twenty-first century? Alt-right politicians relentlessly question the validity of scientific theory and research; they assault climate change science; they denigrate the institutions dedicated to doing research, like universities. Mason

(2019: 12) argues that the roots for ‘the attack on rationality’ were laid by protagonists of postmodernism.

Populist politicians assault sociology and social theory because they claim these subjects seem to produce nothing but querulous unemployable ideas and subversion. For example, in May 2019 Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro considered withdrawing funding from university teaching of sociology

(The Guardian, 2019). A few months later, he also claimed NGOs may have started the forest fires to embarrass the Brazilian government, despite offering no evidence.

Theory seems to be abstract and difficult, and at times it can be so. Consequently, students tend to find it unappealing. However, social theory helps us to think about our own societies and workplaces.

It helps us to appreciate the importance of theory if we realise that everyone engages to some extent in theorizing about society and work. People theorize about their own social situation or that of people they know, for instance, why they are unemployed or why some marriages end in divorce. This kind of everyday theorizing is ad hoc and pragmatic, sometimes called ‘common sense’, compared with social theories which attempt to be internally consistent and to describe and explain how different parts of society or work organizations are interrelated.