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Title of thesis: Affect in Collective Organizing

Doctoral student: Leni Grünbaum

Opponent: Associate Professor Justine Grønbæk Pors, Copenhagen Business School

Custos (Chairperson): Senior University Lecturer Saija Katila, Aalto University School of Business

Affect in Collective Organizing

This qualitative study examines collective organizing—specifically, facilitated change processes—as affective events. Affect is understood as the energy that emerges and shifts in encounters between human bodies, and humans and material entities such as physical spaces and objects. Because affective experiences are preconscious, they are difficult to articulate. However, they can be sensed bodily. For instance, when entering a room, we may immediately sense whether the atmosphere is tense, relaxed, or charged with enthusiasm. Importantly, affective flows shape our actions, either enhancing or reducing our capacity to act. As such, they are fundamental to collective organizing and change processes. The study examines how affective flows open or constrain possibilities for connection, openness, and multiplicity, thereby influencing participation and the potential to move forward collectively. 

The dissertation investigates three team coaching processes in which the author acts as the researcher-coach. From the perspective of affective flows, individuals are not separate from each another nor from material entities and surroundings. Thus, the change process is viewed as a form of collective becoming. The study identifies two distinct affective dynamics and illustrates how affective flows—intertwined with meaning—increase or limit the participants’ capacity to act, thereby shaping the process. Furthermore, the study invites the reader to sense the affective nuances of these events.

In bridging organizational research with the work of practitioners, the study emphasizes that the outcomes of change processes—like those of collective organizing more broadly—are inherently unpredictable due to the fluid nature of affective flows. It proposes that coaches, facilitators, process consultants, and other organizational actor wishing to support change should focus on fostering encounters that enhance the participants’ capacity to act. To do so, such actors must cultivate their bodily awareness, enabling them to sense how they affect and are affected by unfolding events. Additionally, they should promote participants’ openness to new ways of relating and novel perspectives. These aims can be supported through collective practices grounded in bodily play and shared bodily exploration of important matters.  

Thesis available for public display 10 days prior to the defence at:

Contact information:
leni.grunbaum@aalto.fi

+358 40 630 3929

Doctoral theses in the School of Business:

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