The document explores the role of emotions in organizations, focusing on their influence on interactions, social relationships, and organizational dynamics. It combines theories from governance studies and affect theories to understand how emotions shape conduct and how they are constructed within social contexts. The analysis includes various case studies illustrating emotional responses to change and the importance of creating supportive environments for effective organizational development.

1. Diagnosing emotions in
organizations
Mari Simola
University of Helsinki, Institute of Behavioural Sciences
mari.simola@helsinki.fi
Aikuiskasvatuksen tutkimuspäivät 18.1.2016, Jyväskylä, Finland
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2. Questions for the presentation
• How can we reach, define and become more conscious
• on the role of emotions in organizations
• the way they influence and construct the interaction, different kind of
emotional dilemmas and tensions?
• How can we understand organizations and their social and
interactional dynamics better through the exploration of emotions?
• What kind of tools do we need?
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3. Theoretic framework
• Combining ideas from
• the analytics of governmentality and governance studies
• affect theories
• Organizations as constantly evolving, historically layered and socially
constructed places, where internal and external forces meet and the
different kind beliefs and practices arise, meet and conflict.
• Emotions are understood as social and physical elements of the
human behaviour and social life.
• Organically evolving nature of the social life
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4. Governance - Regulation of the social
Dean is giving following definition for ‘governance as the conduct of
conduct’:
”Governance is any more or less calculated and rational activity,
undertaken by multiplicity of authorities and agencies, employing a
variety of techniques and forms of knowledge, that seeks to shape
conduct by working through our desires, aspirations, interests and
beliefs, for definite but shifting ends and with diverse set of relatively
unpredictable consequences, effects and outcomes.” (Dean 1999, 11,
kursiivi MS.)
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5. Governance
• Mitchell Dean (1999, 13) is defining governance “as an activity that shapes the
field of action, and thus, in this sense, attempts to shape freedom.”
• Governance is a various set of activities and practices, which are working to
structure the field of action, as well as actors’ capacities to act (Dean 1999, 14).
• Governance is not seen here as one-way activity (of dominance) but a set of
more complex, plural and relational techniques and ways of constructing
different ‘truths’ and rationalities and making them work (Dean 1999, 18-19).
• “To analyse government is to analyse those practices that try to shape, sculpt,
mobilize and work through the choices, desires, aspirations, needs, wants and
lifestyles of individuals and groups.” (Dean 1999, 13)
• Governmentality: what kind of ideals, beliefs, concepts, positions – mentalities-
become (re-)produced & on which kind of ideals they are based on
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6. Governance
• Interest in construction of mentalities, beliefs, hierarchies and
practices as a dynamic process
• Multidimensional and layered nature of practices and mentalities (historical,
temporal, cultural; formal/informal; new/old)
• Changing possibilities
• Assumption of intersectionality and difference of positions
• Differences as a source of different possibilities and understanding for what is
(understood as) possible for whom
• Gender, ethnicity, education, occupation, age, socio-economic background
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7. Emotion
• understood here as relational; existing in relation to something or
somebody.
• Emotions work in social (societal, political and more personal)
relationships and modify behaving. (Ahmed 2004, 10.)
• Emotion as a social glue, “emotions shape what bodies can do”
(Ahmed 2004, 4); bodies, or people, are then bounded socially in
certain relationships and reactions by emotions.
• Emotional relationships are continually constructed and given
meaning through social practices.
• Our experience of emotions – how we interpret and give
meanings to them – are culturally situated and positioned.
(Ahmed 2004; Gorton 2007.)
• Different emotions, for example fear, shame, love and hate, work
in relations, constructing and constructed by the social categories
and hierarchies. (Ahmed 2004, 2011)
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8. Affect
• affect is ontologically inseparable element of the
social, explaining the biological and physical of it.
• affect as intensity (tension, wave), something which
is in between the people, people and the other
material and as something which is, to a human,
uncontrollable and autonomous. (Massumi 2002)
• affectivity as to affect and be affected (Massumi
2002), which I find comparable to the relational idea
of governmentality.
• affective dimension can be bodily felt, but
experienced through the person’s own thoughts and
previous experiences, which makes this
interpretation always socially constructed.
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9. What do/can emotions tell us on social and
organizational dynamics?
• Irritation as a sign of something stagnate and hidden becoming more visible
because of the action -> start exploring here!!!
• How emotions regulate and construct
• Social relationships
• Roles and positions
• Attitudes and beliefs (good/bad)
• Hierarchies
• Social order
…(old, new, expected, evolving)
• And in turn how the social order regulates the emotions, meanings attached to
them and understanding on what is right, good and accepted
• What kind of emotions stabilize certain social order or challenge it?
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10. Structure of feeling
• ‘the felt sense of the quality of life at a particular place and time’ (Raymond Williams
1975, 57; quoted by Harding & Pribram 2004).
• “multiplicity of structures of feelings that operate in a complex interactive web of
emotional and other discursive and non-discursive events and responses” and which
they see as “interactional, culturally constituted and historically changing” (Harding &
Pribram 2004, 418).
• connects the foucauldian idea of power to the analysis of the emotional & the societal
and public to the private and individual. (ibid. 417-418.)
• the structure of feeling means the emotional dimension of “organization of discourses
that shape what is culturally permissible for specific categories of subjects to express as
part of their constitution within contemporary power relations”.
• Emotions experienced by individuals need to be located in and across the time periods
and cultural spaces, which in turn connects the structure(s) of feeling to the construction
of social categories, e.g. gender. (ibid. 419).
• .
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11. Structure of feeling
• potential of the concept
• focusing the feelings and the felt (impulses, restraints, tones) as a part of
lived life experience within a specific social and cultural context, and on
bringing the affective experience equally important source of information on
culture as lived. (Williams 1975, quoted by Harding & Pribram 2004, 416-417.)
• on exploring the “categories of existence beyond the rational and empirical
without rendering them irrational”
• how to understand emotions as cultural experience and culturally shared.
• the concept is able to give tools for investigating intellectually something
which is sensed personally, but without limiting the interpretation of them as
“psychological” but social
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12. Structure of feeling – Responses to
immigration
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13. Case 1: Development initiative faces the resistance
– discussion with the academic developers
• Individual and organizational development initiatives, varying from
the national discipline-based reformation connected to Bologna
process to the development of the course
• Interviews on succesful experiences
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14. Conclusions on emotions/affect
• Reaction on external threat
• Professional and academic boundaries become visible
• Involvement as a tool for creating discussion and commitment
• Physical space
• Distance and the feeling of belonging
• Classroom & office architecture as obstacles and possibilities
• Constructions of ideals of teaching and knowledge construction,
hierarchies between groups of actors
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15. Example 1: Cultural space and involvement
• “The feeling of something not currently working was missing here, so
participants did not have an idea of something being wrong, in the need of
fixing. They were hiding in the corners of their bunkers, they were
completely and deeply inside there. Not reacting or responding on
anything. The threat was seen as too big, but I think it had something to do
the fact that someone had indeed got the idea of the development project.
“(Interview 3, 10/2014)
• “Yes I realized that under this threat a lot of networking started to emerge
among our discipline. We shared the anxiety and worry and thus organized
a lot of common meetings. -- Otherwise, without a project, there would
have been a real threat of a wipe out of the whole discipline. There was a
lot of pressure and critique [from the ministry] on why we were not
presenting any bigger savings. However, the result was that academics had
to work together.” (Interview 5, 10/2014)
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16. Cultural space and involvement
• ”This is describing the situation which we wanted to create for the
process. We were thinking how to involve as many partners and
actors into the process, so that there will be this level of
administration, disciplinary decision making, central administration
and the faculties. And of course there was also a lot of different
networks crossing the university institutions. For example the
network of deans, many of the questions were something they are
not only specific for this particular academic subject. We were trying
to involve all the possible actors, who might have an impact in the
potential success, so it would penetrate the activities at all the levels.
(Interview 5, 10/2014, bolded MS)
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17. Example 1: Physical space
• “ Well, we had absolutely boring office, but our tables were locating like
this. My table was here, my computer here. I think we drew lots on
places.. I was sitting here, N. was here and then we had a shared table
here in the middle. Door was here, the bookself here and here. We
spent there a lot of time, I had a lot of back problems, -- And we had a
lot of paper everywhere. Somehow, I find it was really important that we
got the own room, we could all the time talk aloud. Also, we were both
quite similar what it comes to our way of concentrating, we felt it was ok
to interrupt another one and to speak aloud. I think a lot by talking. And
also, that you knew another one was working on if not exactly the same
but anyways on something related to shared task. So it was possible to
work aloud. Maybe it was also important that for our boss it was ok that
two people were working fulltime on a same task, not working alone.”
(Interview2, 10/2014)
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18. Physical space
• “And then the seminar room, where we are able to teach this kind of course.. So
the teaching facilities, what kind of classrooms are available. I think we explored
the all the possible classroom in this university, when we trying to find the one
with movable chairs and tables. And a lot of reorganizing, every time we started
our teaching, we had to relocate the tables, to build up the spaces for group
discussion. Quite often students were sitting in the same group for the whole
course, it was not required, it just happened. But it is still a problem to find a
proper place. When we taught our first courses [around 2005/2007], we still had
an old school to use, where the movable chairs and tables were in all classrooms.
We had a lot of teaching there, but then it was sold by the university. There are
quite a few suitable rooms in the central campus. – Therefore, it is probably one
of the main problem here there is not so many architecturally suitable sites for
this kind of teaching available, and they are usually very reserved. And if you have
a group of over 15 people, it’s even more difficult. (Interview2, 10/2014)
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19. Case 2: School reform in elementary
education
Expected changes
1. Pedagogic changes and the launch of the new curriculum (2016)
2. Intercultural education and more heterogenic classes
3. Administrative change in the role of the head teacher, launch of
the area managers
4. School mergers
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20. How to analyse the case
• What are the conditioning and contextual factors defining the
possibilities for action?
• What kind of problems and tensions arise? What kind of feelings are
felt and experienced? By whom? Why? In what kind of situations?
• How do the expected and experienced changes challenge and change
the roles of actors, relationships between them, understanding of
teaching/management/learning?
• What kind of emotions become attached to the change process as
such?
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21. Contextual and conditioning factors
• What are the different kind of factors defining the possibilities and restrains for action, and which might also
explain some of the tensions and problems faced?
• What kind of resources are available? Money, time, people, facilities?
• Local context
• Location in rural/central/metropolitan area? What kind of connections to rest of the world exist?
• Who are the residents? Where do they come from? What do they do? How do residents see their relationship to local school
and the area? Do they feel the belongining?
• What kind of mentalities seem to be found? What kind of bubbles (Trifft) exist? Religious? Political? What is seen as right
and recommended?
• School as an institution
• school as institution and organization
• the teachers, pupils and head teacher’s role
• idea of “what is the proper way of teaching”
• understanding of the nature of knowledge and the way of acquiring it (concept of learning, e.g. von Wright, Tynjälä).
• However, according to Sahlberg and Scholomon, not only the pedagogy needs to change, but also the
organization of the school has to reflect the power shifts in teacher-student –relationship.
• E.g. supervisor – doctoral student relationship in university
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22. 
I have a permanent contract
Pupils behave well
I like working here
I like to try new things

Atmosphere is bad here
I don’t like those other teachers
I don’t know whether they’ll
continue my contract
I teach alone!
Wow.
A lot of different
kind of kids in my
class.
I want a master
to guide me!!!
But you need to learn
to make decisions
together….
Experienced emotions, problems and tensions
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23. Power and the changing relationships, roles
and ideals
Principle for organizing
the work
Examples of the
practices
Ownership of the
decision making on
what is important
Ownership of control
and acceptance of
results
Student-centred
learning
Problem-based
learning, inquiry based
learning
Students defining the
problems/topics with
the help of the teacher
(vs. teacher)
Students (self-
evaluation) and
teachers (vs. teachers
alone)
Collaborative teaching Two teachers teaching
together, shared
classroom,
Two teachers together
(vs. one teacher)
Both teachers (vs. one
teacher)
Shared leadership Empowering, team
work
Teachers together with
the head teacher (vs.
head teacher alone)
Teachers together with
the head teacher
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24. What kind of emotions are expressed and
connected to
• the relations between people?
• the activities and practices?
• one’s own work?
• change process as such?
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25. Questions for the further exploration
• What kind of emotions are attached to different kinds of change
processes?
• How do emotions regulate certain social practices and their stability?
• How the emotional climate (atmosphere) of the school could be
secured or improved at the times of scarce resources and practical
pressures towards more efficiency? How to connect resource
awareness to the wellbeing?
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26. References
• Ahmed, S. (2004). The cultural politics of emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press.
• Dean, M. (1999). Governmentality: Power and rule in modern society.
London: Sage.
• Gorton, K. (2007). Theorizing emotion and affect feminist engagements.
Feminist Theory, 8(3), 333-348.
• Harding, J., & Pribram, E. D. (2002). The power of feeling locating emotions
in culture. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 5(4), 407-426.
• Massumi, B. (2002). Parables for the virtual: movement, affect, sensations.
Durham, N.C.: Duke U.P.
• Simola, M. (2015). It’s affective! Presentation to CHERIF summer school,
6/2015 Jyväskylä, Finland
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