‘Is it worth doing this or is it better to commit suicide?’: On ethical clearance at a university

2024/05/11 by Mats Alvesson, Anna Stephens · 1 voice · 2 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Health Professions · #Ethics in medical practice #Management and Organizational Studies #Mental Health and Patient Involvement

paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/00187267241248530

openalex publication_date 2024/05/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02

Abstract

The article examines the formal process of ‘ethical clearance’ for social science research at a large university and illuminates how it functions to undermine its stated purpose. We find that rather than promoting ethical standards, the bureaucratic process creates negative and cynical attitudes and game playing. For almost all participants, the entire procedure is counterproductive and experienced as absurd, creating a boomerang effect. The findings reveal how a specific rationalization effort leads to widespread experiences of irrationality, where detailed and strict organization merges with experiences of the bizarre. The article develops concepts capturing the experience and resulting organizational type: ‘orbizzarization’ and ‘absurdocracy’. These concepts enrich our understanding of toxic/irrational organizations, including Kafkaesque organizations.

Citations

• Bureaucratic Structure and Personality
• Power and Subjectivity at Work: From Degradation to Subjugation in Social Relations
• Two Types of Bureaucracy: Enabling and Coercive
• Ethics Creep: Governing Social Science Research in the Name of Ethics
• The ascension of Kafkaesque bureaucracy in private sector organizations
• Meanings of Theory: Clarifying Theory through Typification

Cited by

• Kafka and Organization Studies
• ‘Lost futures’ and undermined pasts of the pandemic: Digital lecturers’ ghostly reflections of time, self and the university

Discussions

• Reading list: ‘Is it worth doing this or is it better to commit suicide?’: On ethical clearance at a university - Alvesson & Stephens (2024) "The article examines the formal process of ‘ethical cle [bsky, 2 points, 0 comments]

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