Sub-Plenary 1-2

Organizing Justice in Times of Crises: Bringing 'the Social' and 'the Ecological' in Conversation


Thursday, July 9, 2026, 12:30-14:00 CEST
Online


Organizers:
Inge L. Bleijenbergh, Radboud University, Netherlands
Laura Dobusch, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
Monica Nadegger, LMU Munich & MCI — The Entrepreneurial School, Germany & Austria

Panelists:
Yvonne Benschop, Radboud University, Netherlands
Steffen Boehm, University of Exeter Business School, UK
Heleen de Coninck, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
Kiri Dell, University of Auckland, New Zealand

This Sub-plenary “Organizing Justice in Times of Crises: Bringing ‘the Social’ and ‘the Ecological’ in Conversation” bridges organizational debates on social and ecological justice. While degrading living conditions and future solutions in the polycrisis are connected to the way society and the economy are organized, ecological- and sustainability-related research as well as research on issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion are rarely in conversation. Through a panel discussion and consecutive breakout sessions, we join the intellectual forces of both research streams to build knowledge for alternative, regenerative forms of organizing that consider both ‘the social’ and ‘the ecological’.

Scholars across disciplines have been increasingly calling for the necessity of transformative change towards social and ecological justice (Ripple et al., 2024; Waddock et al., 2024). Studies have shown how social crises, such as rising inequalities, are interlinked with ecological crises, such as climate change and loss of biodiversity (Gupta et al., 2024; MacGregor, 2017; Thomas et al., 2019).

Some scholars have even pointed out the unfolding of a polycrisis: several interrelated crises happening simultaneously, with potentially irreversible breakdowns of social and ecological systems (Scott & Homer-Dixon, 2022; Williams et al., 2024). Despite this urgency, organizational research engaging with both social and ecological justice is scarce (for exceptions, see McCarthy et al., 2021; Phillips, 2014).

Moreover, while research streams on ecology and sustainability issues and on equality, diversity, and inclusion share the concern about degrading living conditions in a more-than-human world, they mainly take place in a parallel mode. We want to foster the integration of research streams on social equality and ecological justice by supporting a conversation between these two debates.

We want to contribute to both relevant fields by joining the intellectual forces and investigate how the interlinkages between the social and ecological crises unfold in and are sustained by contemporary forms of organizing. Such a conversation can foster avenues for synergetic potential between both streams and steer research towards more socially just and regenerative forms of organizing.

The EGOS community will gain the following takeaways from our sub-plenary:

  • We draw attention to the importance of connecting the insights from formerly disconnected research streams on social and ecological justice.

  • We identify the hurdles — potential onto-epistemological differences, everyday camp building of research streams etc. - hindering a closer collaboration between these two research fields.

  • We reflect on the potential insights and social relevance of organizational research centering simultaneously on issues of ecological and social justice.

  • We encourage organization scholars to think about future ways for exchange and collaboration between the two research fields and how such exchange helps to build knowledge for alternative, regenerative forms of organizing.

The Sub-plenary will consist of two parts – a panel talk (Part 1) and breakout discussions on specific topics (Part 2). The first part (50 minutes) will feature a short introduction to the overall topic and aim of the Sub-plenary and continue with short input talks (approx. 10 minutes each) by the four panelists. The second part (40 minutes) will include breakout sessions (25 minutes) related to three questions we pose after the inputs and will close with a moderated Q&A session (15 minutes).


References – will be added soon

Biographies

Inge L. Bleijenbergh is a Full Professor of Action Research, in particular in the field of equality, diversity and inclusion, at Radboud University, The Netherlands. She uses participatory methods, like focus groups and group model building, to involve organizational members in analyzing and addressing complex problems. Inge published widely on subjects such as organizational change, gender inequality and diversity, work life balance, change agents, and participatory action research. She is a co-editor of the “Oxford Handbook of Diversity in Organizations” and wrote several textbooks on qualitative research methods.

Laura Dobusch is a Assistant Professor for Change Management and Management Development at the WU University Vienna, Austria. Main areas of her research are: how organizations can become both more inclusive and sustainable and how respective policy approaches interact with each other; which opportunities, limits and also unintended consequences are linked to organizational inclusion strategies; and how contemporary forms of organizing are connected to the creation of il-/legitimate subjectivities. Laura’s research has been published in, among others, Gender, Work & Organization, Organization and Organization Studies.

Monica Nadegger is a post-doctoral researcher at LMU – University of Munich, Germany, and at MCI – The Entrepreneurial School, Austria. Her research is guided by CCO (communicative constitution of organization) and feminist new materialist perspectives with a focus on materiality, resistance, and alternative organizing and is guided by non-representational, auto/ethnographic, and post-human approaches. Monica’s research has been published in Organization Studies, Organization, Culture & Organization, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Leisure Studies, and several book chapters.

Yvonne Benschop is Professor of Business Administration, Organizational Behavior. She leads the multidisciplinary research hotspot Gender and Power in Politics and Management, in which 20+ researchers from Business Administration, Political Science, Economics and Geography, Planning and Environment collaborate. Her teaching, research and advisory work center on the social responsibility of contemporary organizations to organize for gender equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Steffen Boehm is Professor of Organization & Sustainability at the University of Exeter Business School, UK. His research focuses on sustainability, circular economy, climate change, food systems, and other systems approaches to sustainability, governance, and ethical and justice challenges in sustainability transitions. He is a Section Editor at the Journal of Business Ethics and Associate Editor at the journal Organization. He’s published seven books and more than 100 journal articles.

Heleen de Coninck is Professor of Socio-Technical Innovation and Climate Change at Eindhoven University of Technology. Her research focuses on the role of innovation and technology in international climate change negotiations. She was one of the lead authors in the IPCC Special Report on Global warming and is the vice-chair of the Netherlands Scientific Climate Council.

Kiri Dell is an Indigenous New Zealander from the tribe of Ngati Porou. Her research interests include understanding the intersections between Indigenous worldviews and capitalism and colonisation.