Dr Carolyn Hunter
Senior Lecturer in Organisational Theory & Behaviour

Profile

Biography

My research in critical management studies relates to everyday experiences of work, including: affect and emotion; humour and happiness in fun corporate cultures; gender; and the creative industries. 

My first academic interest is in the phenomena of affect, humour and ‘play' at work. My research explores how corporate cultures advocate values of fun, enjoyment and happiness, and how these discourses are mapped onto the space and materiality of the organisations. I draw on the work on affect by Sara Ahmed and Jane Bennett, as well as Kathleen Stewart to explore everyday experiences of affect such as enchantment.

My second area of research involves gender, femininity and feminism in organisation studies, exploring gender relations within publishing and the creative industries. I was a co-investigator on an Academy of Finland grant on 'The Business of Childhood', where we explore how children's authors experience their day to day work around the themes of precariousness, enchantment and gender.

My third area focuses more specifically on work in the creative industries, examining how creative work is recognised and rewarded. Working with the Writers' Guild of Great Britain and the ALCS, along with colleagues in the School of Arts, we examine the impact of streaming services on the earnings of screenwriters, and the related impact on the development of new talent in the industry.

I am interested in supervising PhD and masters students in the study of everyday life in organisations, on the themes of gender, the creative industries, affect or emotions, and fun and play at work.

Research

Overview

Areas of interest include: Gender, affect and feminist writing; happiness, play and humour within fun corporate cultures; and work in the creative industries, especially publishing, writing and screen.

Research Cluster

Centre for the Study of Working Lives

Publications

Full publications list

View in ORCID

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Innovation and Creativity in Organization (Final year undergraduate, BA Management)
• Creative Business Leadership (Second year undergraduate, BA Business of the Creative Industries)