Dreaming others’ dreams: How Amerindian dream practices can provide paths to collective reflexivity in organizational scholarship

The current paper examines the use of dreams as a methodological source of collective reflexivity among organizational scholars. Current organizational literature discusses the role of dreams in promoting reflexivity, drawing largely on psychoanalytical approaches of researcher self-understanding as an individual process. Recognizing in individualistic approaches a risk of egoistic projection and identification, we propose an alternative dream-based methodology inspired by Amerindian philosophy and practices of dreaming. Examining illustrations from literature on Amerindian knowledge practices, we argue that dreams inform ideas about collective relationality and cosmology, moving away from a focus on individual psychology. This alternative conception of dreams is particularly useful for organizational perspectives emphasizing researcher-participant collaboration, collective reflexivity, and action-oriented research. On this basis, we elaborate a dream-based approach as a form of inquiry. We contribute to a nascent literature on dreams in organizational scholarship, highlighting the diverse ways dreams can support collective reflexivity. Moreover, our approach recognizes the importance of Indigenous knowledge practices as sources for organizational scholarship, providing philosophical and practical pathways for relating to others in a non-colonial way.