Scaling philosophies globally through open strategizing: Interdiscursive struggles, attention contests, and orchestration in the Burning Man movement




Heikkilä, J.-P., Leppälä, M., Mäkkeli, J., & Martela, F.

42nd EGOS online Colloquium

2026

https://www.egos.org/jart/prj3/egos/main.jart?rel=de&reserve-mode=active&content-id=1756645686117&subtheme_id=1733775222164



This paper examines the Burning Man movement as an unconventional multinational organisation that blends hierarchical corporate governance with a participatory, "do-ocratic" ethos. Using institutional theory, Strategy-as-Practice (SAP), and open strategy literature, we analyse how the Burning Man Project (BMP) operationalises its Ten Principles globally while navigating tensions between central control and local autonomy. Drawing on 40 semi-structured interviews with regional leaders and BMP staff, we identify how "interdiscursive struggles" and "attention contests" manifest in the strategy process. We find that while Open Strategy (OS) facilitates the scaling of countercultural philosophies, it often results in a "black hole" of decision-making where the central organisation’s need for corporate accountability reduces the polyphony of its global network. We conclude by discussing the role of storytelling as an informal accountability mechanism and the potential for new global governance models.



Last updated on 14/03/2026 06:38:17 PM