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Human Relations
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Resisting resistance: Counter-resistance, consent and compliance in a consultancy firm

Dan Kärreman

Copenhagen Business School, dk.ikl{at}cbs.dk, dan.karreman{at}fek.lu.se

Mats Alvesson

University of Lund, Sweden, mats.alvesson{at}fek.lu.se, University of Queensland Business School, Australia

Consent, obedience and resistance can be seen as key concerns in management and organization. Why people comply is a crucial issue in the field. We address the theme within a specific area: management consultants in a big firm that places quite a lot of pressure on its personnel to be hardworking and predictable and to subordinate themselves to hierarchy, standards and tight production schedules. By studying how the discourses of Ambition and Autonomy clash and interact in a consultancy firm, we add and develop the concept of counter-resistance to expand our understanding of the dynamics of resistance. The idea is to show how the impulse to resist becomes countered and neutralized. The study offers insights into the deeper mechanisms and dynamics behind consent and shows the multidimensional character of resistance.

Key Words: discourse analysis • management • organizational theory power • resistance

Human Relations, Vol. 62, No. 8, 1115-1144 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0018726709334880
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