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Erik My­gind du Plessis

Associate Professor

Subjects
Management Leadership Organisation Well-being Identity Sociology

Primary research areas

Whis­tleblow­ing hot­lines
My re­search on whis­tleblow­ing hot­lines ex­plores what hap­pens when cri­tique is sought in­sti­tu­tion­al­ized and reg­u­lated in an or­gan­iz­a­tion­al con­text. I am par­tic­u­larly in­ter­ested in the ten­sions, am­bi­val­ences and demo­crat­ic im­plic­a­tions of this re­l­at­ively nov­el tech­no­logy of man­age­ment.
Mind­ful­ness med­it­a­tion
Mind­ful­ness med­it­a­tion is be­com­ing in­creas­ingly com­mon in or­gan­iz­a­tions, of­ten im­ple­men­ted as a meas­ure for im­prov­ing well-be­ing and re­du­cing stress. While some crit­ics have de­scribed mind­ful­ness as the per­fect ideo­lo­gic­al sup­ple­ment to late-cap­it­al­ism, and noted how it in­di­vidu­al­izes struc­tur­al prob­lems, oth­ers have poin­ted to its in­her­ently trans­form­at­ive po­ten­tial and ap­plic­a­tion in act­iv­ist move­ments such as Oc­cupy Wall Street and Black Lives Mat­ter. My re­search re­volves around his am­bi­val­ence and how it relates to the re­cent (neuro-)sci­en­ti­fic­a­tion of mind­ful­ness med­it­a­tion.
Al­tern­at­ive Or­gan­iz­a­tion
I study how cer­tain or­gan­iz­a­tions seek to chal­lenge es­tab­lished ways of or­gan­iz­ing. This means that I ex­plore how or­gan­iz­a­tions such as polit­ic­al parties, so­cial move­ments, and work­er co­oper­at­ives ex­per­i­ment with new modes of gov­ernance and de­cision-mak­ing in an at­tempt to es­cape the con­straints of the dom­in­ant or­der.

I am in­ter­ested in power, sub­jectiv­ity and ‘the good life’ in con­tem­por­ary or­gan­iz­a­tions

My research revolves around the relationship between power and subjectivity, and how it relates to ‘the good life’ in contemporary organizations. I have studied these dynamics in diverse settings - from oil rigs and surgery wards to coffee shops, retail banks, prepper forums and meditation halls - to understand how people are shaped by, and resist, different managerial logics and organizational forms. 

I investigate how subjects are governed, how they govern themselves, and how they respond to or ignore managerial logics, and I link these processes to wellbeing and ethical practice at work and beyond. My work helps organizations design policies and practices that strengthen accountability, support worker wellbeing, and enable more democratic and responsible forms of organizing — for example, through the implementation of whistleblowing hotlines, mindfulness courses or the pursuit of alternative orgainzation. 

Publications

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May 2025

Mindful co-optations?

Exploring the Responses of Mindfulness Teachers to the Risk of Co-optation

Erik My­gind du Ples­sis, Associate Professor

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4 March 2025

A Processual Perspective on Alternative Organization

Reorienting Critical Research Through a Study of Two Political Parties

Emil Hu­sted, Associate Professor

Erik My­gind du Ples­sis, Associate Professor

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February 2025

On the Day After Tomorrow

Activating the Apocalyptic Imaginary

Sine Nørholm Just

Erik My­gind du Ples­sis, Associate Professor

Emil Hu­sted, Associate Professor

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Outside activities

2025 , -

No out­side activ­it­ies to re­port