From Critique to Engagement: Rethinking Rhetoric in Critical Management Research

Critical theory offers a powerful lens for examining power, ideology, and systemic inequality in organizations. However, despite its transformative potential, it remains marginal in mainstream management scholarship. In this paper, I argue that this marginalization stems not from its core philosophical commitments, but from under-theorized tensions in how critical theory is methodologically practiced and rhetorically communicated. Using three exemplar studies—Ezzamel and Willmott (1998), Greckhamer (2010), and Ryan and Guthrie (2014)—I analyze how critical theory is operationalized in empirical research and identify misalignments between ontology, method, and rhetorical posture. I propose an integrative conceptual framework that links historical realism, emancipatory epistemology, and rhetorical strategy, showing how coherence across these dimensions enhances the accessibility and impact of critical scholarship. In doing so, I offer a typology of rhetorical postures—adversarial, didactic, inviting, and constructive—and argue for greater methodological reflexivity and rhetorical awareness. This paper contributes to a more engaged form of critical management research—one that retains its normative edge while broadening its capacity to inspire reflection, dialogue, and organizational transformation.