Synopses & Reviews
In theand#160;summer of 2008, nearly fifty thousand people traveled to Nevadaand#8217;s Black Rock Desert to participate in the countercultural arts event Burning Man. Founded on a commitment to expression and community, the annual weeklong festival presents unique challenges to its organizers. Over four years Katherine K. Chen regularly participated in organizing efforts to safely and successfully create a temporary community in the middle of the desert under the hot August sun.
Enabling Creative Chaos tracks how a small, underfunded group of organizers transformed into an unconventional corporation with a ten-million-dollar budget and two thousand volunteers. Over the years, Burning Manand#8217;s organizers have experimented with different management models; learned how to recruit, motivate, and retain volunteers; and developed strategies to handle regulatory agencies and respond to media coverage. This remarkable evolution, Chen reveals, offers important lessons for managers in any organization, particularly in uncertain times.
Review
and#8220;Enabling Creative Chaos describes an organizational mutant which is part community, part business. It is the ultimate hybrid form, and Katherine Chen lays bare all of its qualities and contradictions. This is a rich qualitative case study of a phenomenon that many know, some have experienced, but few understand.and#8221;and#8212;Joseph Galaskiewicz, University of Arizona
Review
and#8220;Katherine Chen immersed herself in the world of Burning Man, the fascinating community that gathers annually for a week-long arts celebration in the Nevada desert. Her marvelous portrait of this unusual collective provides a rich template for considering how organizations of all varieties strike a balance between flexibility and fairness and creativity and security. This is one of the best organizational ethnographies I've seen in many years.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;From open source software to the 2008 election, organizational research has not yet come to terms with the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of these new organizational forms. Katherine Chen has succeeded in writing an engaging ethnography of Burning Man and skillfullyand#160;developedand#160;its implications for organizational theory and managerial practice. Bravo.and#8221;
About the Author
Katherine K. Chen is assistant professor of sociology at The City College of New York and the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Table of Contents
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; List of Illustrationsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Preface
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Acknowledgmentsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
1and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Introduction: The Perils of Under- and Overorganizingand#160;and#160;
2and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Context: The Development of the Burning Man Event and Organizationand#160;
3and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#8220;Do-ocracyand#8221;: Acting on Suggestions and Criticismsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
4and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#8220;Radical Inclusionand#8221;: Attracting and Placing Membersand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
5and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#8220;No Spectatorsand#8221;: Motivating Members to Contributeand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
6and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; and#8220;Immerse Yourselfand#8221;: Managing Relations in the Pursuit of Legitimacyand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
7and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Conclusion: Sustaining Creative Chaosand#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Appendix 1. Ethnography and Qualitative Researchand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Appendix 2. Interview Protocolsand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Notesand#160;and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Reference Listand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Index