Revista de Administração Contemporânea

7

Authors: Luiz Antonio Joia

Objectives: nearly 50% of people in developing countries suffer from extreme poverty. Consequently, a debate has emerged about the potential of ICT to improve socio-economic conditions prevailing in impoverished nations. This discussion has given rise to a burgeoning field of research known as ICT for development (ICT4D). However, most academics in the ICT4D arena do not come from developing countries, nor do they reside in these regions — the main beneficiaries of ICT4D initiatives. This is the case of Brazil, a country characterized by significant socioeconomic disparities, where this field of study has aroused little interest among the scientific community and thus continues to be largely under-researched. Thus, the objective of this paper is to make sense of that phenomenon. Provocations: as most of the ICT4D knowledge base has been generated either by academics who are not originally from developing countries or by academics native to developing countries who currently reside in developed countries, a provocation can be made, namely, considering that ICT4D initiatives can improve the quality of life of people, why haven’t Brazilian scholars prioritized research in this area? Conclusion: as a provocative paper, our main objective is to debate on the aforementioned issue. For this, we should listen to the Brazilian Academy of Management — mainly the academics of the ANPAD’s Information Management division — to address and solve this puzzle, so that ICT4D research in Brazil can be encouraged with a view to causing a real impact on our society

14

Authors: Maria Clara de Oliveira Leite, Letícia Dias Fantinel

Objective: this essay problematizes destructive organizational practices that produce and perpetuate spaces in ruins. Drawing from the practices of the mining industry in Brazil, exemplified by the rupture of the Fundão dam (MG), we theorize about the contributions of multispecies approaches to Administration. Thesis: we propose, through dialogues between organizational studies and multispecies studies, the concept of a multispecies organizing of space that transcends exclusively human relations. We consider space as both product and process in everyday organizational life, yet we highlight the limitations of the human-centric focus in the literature. We conceptualize spacing as a non-human production of practices entangling humans and actors composing environments and various species of plants, animals, fungi, and other forms of existence. Thus, we challenge a hegemonic view in the field, underscoring the importance of a more inclusive and ethical approach to spatial and organizational practices. Conclusions: we rethink social and organizational dynamics, emphasizing not only mining activity but other corporate practices through a spatialized and more-than-human perspective. The essay contributes ontologically by making visible the agency of other living beings in organizational processes and practices, methodologically by decentering the human in research, and politically by analyzing asymmetric power relations. Such contributions enable the promotion of a broader and more responsible understanding of the complex relations between humans and non-humans in organizational contexts