A Postcolonial Deconstruction Approach Toward Promoting Socially Conscious Management in the Emerging Economies

This chapter uses a postcolonial deconstruction lens to show wide psychological impacts pervading organizations, management, and management education in the formerly colonized societies, many of which are today’s emerging economies. Drawing upon postcolonial theories, with a focus on a framework developed by the celebrated Indian psychologist Ashis Nandy (The intimate enemy: Loss and recovery of self under colonialism. Oxford University Press), this chapter throws light on how certain dominant narratives within management theory and practice perpetuate the colonial ideologies in the nominally postcolonial world of business. In the process, we draw attention to the promise of hybrid management spaces that leverage non-Western paradigms such as Ubuntu as well as diverse wisdom traditions, toward management that embraces partnership economics, indigenous organizing, and reframes entrepreneurship as social change. We explain the relevance of this approach for management practitioners, scholars, and educators who seek to promote greater social consciousness in their practice, research, and teaching.