Hrd & Spirituality
Marketing God: A Critical Inquiry into Spirituality in the Workplace
Fred Milacci and Sharon L. Howell The Pennsylvania State University, USA Abstract: This paper examines the way spirituality is co-opted and commodified to serve the interests of the marketplace from a faith-based perspective. Introduction We have noticed the increased frequency of the language of spirituality in both management and adult education literature. Particularly disconcerting is the way spirituality is used, or from our perspective, misused. Following the work of Cox (1999) and Frank (2000), this study explores the way spirituality is co-opted and commodified to serve the interests of the marketplace. We examine the concept of spirituality as it is applied in the workplace, locating the discourse of spirituality within the context of management theory, human resource development, and organizational learning. Additionally, the research looks at spirituality from the perspective of religious activists and is grounded in the work of critical theological and religious studies. The paper concludes with a discussion of why spirituality cannot be divorced from its origins within the various religious traditions and why any discussion of spirituality and work must be connected to the work of critical theological and religious scholars. Failure to do so leads to a conception of spirituality that becomes part of a process that attempts to shape human beings to “fit” into the marketplace rather than one that sees them as true spiritual beings. Theoretical Orientation and Research Design Though we locate ourselves within Christianity, this study incorporates work from a multiplicity of religious traditions. Theoretically, this paper is grounded in critical religious and theological perspectives (Lerner, 2000; Wallis, 2000; Wilber, 1998), suggesting that concepts such as "soul" and "spirituality" in the workplace are used by business to further economic goals by co-opting the language of religion on
Fred Milacci and Sharon L. Howell The Pennsylvania State University, USA Abstract: This paper examines the way spirituality is co-opted and commodified to serve the interests of the marketplace from a faith-based perspective. Introduction We have noticed the increased frequency of the language of spirituality in both management and adult education literature. Particularly disconcerting is the way spirituality is used, or from our perspective, misused. Following the work of Cox (1999) and Frank (2000), this study explores the way spirituality is co-opted and commodified to serve the interests of the marketplace. We examine the concept of spirituality as it is applied in the workplace, locating the discourse of spirituality within the context of management theory, human resource development, and organizational learning. Additionally, the research looks at spirituality from the perspective of religious activists and is grounded in the work of critical theological and religious studies. The paper concludes with a discussion of why spirituality cannot be divorced from its origins within the various religious traditions and why any discussion of spirituality and work must be connected to the work of critical theological and religious scholars. Failure to do so leads to a conception of spirituality that becomes part of a process that attempts to shape human beings to “fit” into the marketplace rather than one that sees them as true spiritual beings. Theoretical Orientation and Research Design Though we locate ourselves within Christianity, this study incorporates work from a multiplicity of religious traditions. Theoretically, this paper is grounded in critical religious and theological perspectives (Lerner, 2000; Wallis, 2000; Wilber, 1998), suggesting that concepts such as "soul" and "spirituality" in the workplace are used by business to further economic goals by co-opting the language of religion on
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