The Organization of Ignorance

There is now a growing literature on the role that ignorance plays alongside knowledge in social life and social interaction. Rather than simply the absence of knowledge, ignorance needs to be understood as socially constructed and organized, with a variety of implications for the sociology of organizations. Niklas Luhmann raised the question, then, of identifying when the relationship between knowledge and ignorance is such that ‘ignorance becomes the most important resource of action’.

Increasingly cases of organizational failure, scandal or fiasco are being analysed not as systemically abnormal, but in fact manifestations of the normal functioning of organizations. The question of systemic ignorance applies both to the internal relationships within organizations between its different members at differing levels, and to the external relationships between the organization and its environment – other organizations, the legal system, the realm of politics, and the broader society.

We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers that address questions such as:

• What has been the role of strategic, wilful and organized ignorance in significant cases of organizational failure, crisis or misfeasance?
• What does organized ignorance contribute to the development and maintenance of unethical management practices, via principles such as ‘plausible deniability’?
• What connections can be made between the concept of organized ignorance and related concepts such as hypocrisy, stupidity, denial, disavowal, secrecy, and evil?
• What role does ignorance play in the relations of tension between public organizations and the realm of politics?