Other (O2)
Turning to the dark side: Challenging the hegemonic positivity of the creativity discourse
List of Authors: Iva Josefsson, Annika Blomberg
Conference name: Pre-Colloquium Workshops at European Group for Organization Studies Conference
Publication year: 2017
The current discourse around creativity
in organizations is based on taken-for-granted assumptions of creativity as
being good, desirable, and a source of valuable outcomes for organizations and
individuals. Drawing on Laclauian discourse theory, this paper challenges the
hegemony of these articulations and argues that creativity has a ‘dark side’,
referring to that which is harmful for individuals or organizations and may
result in pain, loss or suffering. We offer three theorizations of the dark
side of creativity – the individual, collective, and discursive – as antagonistic
to these hegemonic articulations. We discuss the implications of the positivity
of the discourse and the failure to acknowledge any darker aspects of
creativity, and conclude that the dark side of creativity has been subverted by
the discourse, and thus requires further critical exploration. By exposing the
dark side of creativity, this paper invites scholars to broaden the discourse
and to embrace a more balanced and ‘greyer’ understanding of creativity in
organizations.