A CRITIQUE AND A RETRIEVAL OF MANAGEMENT AND THE HUMANITIES

The use of literature, and other sources from the humanities, in manag ement education has become more prominent in recent years. But, there is reason to question the ethical justifications by which the marriage of Management and the Humanities is customarily defended. This paper is a critique of Management and the Humanities as it is practiced thro ugh the use of literature. By means of a liberal pragmatist kind of cr iticism, and a case analysis about a hypothetical Grand Theory of Mana gement called Theory R, I draw a sharp distinction between a Managemen t and the Humanities approach that merely confirms conventional truths and a new approach to Management and the Humanities that enables stud ents to grow as what Henry Giroux calls ''critical rather than 'good' citizens.'' I show how this new approach can enable management educato rs to retrieve the potential of Management and the Humanities to contr ibute to liberal education.