How to not change the world: Actionism and pseudo-praxis in organization and management theory
批判当前批判研究追求实践相关性的趋势，借用阿多诺的“思维行动主义”概念，指出这种优先实践、盲目乐观的做法适得其反，并重新引入法兰克福学派的内在批判与否定辩证法作为理论资源。
Critical research is facing calls for practical relevance through academic activism, affirmation of alternatives, collaboration with practitioners and critical performativity, with earlier traditions of critique dismissed as being negative, detached, and ineffective. This paper challenges this framing by returning to debates within Frankfurt School critical theory, particularly Theodor Adorno’s analysis of ‘thinking actionism’ – that is, a form of self-defeating critique based on a prioritization of practice, naïve optimism, faith in collectivity, and academic self-aggrandizement. Using this theoretical lens, we problematize trends within recent practice-oriented and impact-focused critical scholarship and offer three provocations. First, we caution against equating critique with practice and impact and dismissing critical theory. Second, we highlight the indirect and often unintended influence of critical theory on practice and revisit Frankfurt School approaches – such as immanent critique and negative dialectics – as theoretical resources that advance the relation between theory and practice. Finally, we evaluate examples of intellectual engagements that illustrate the potential for this more dialectical approach to politics and organizing.