Abstract:
The notion of ‘‘responsibility’’ can be understood
in a number of different ways, namely as being
accountable for one’s actions, as a personal trait, or as a
task or duty that results from one’s role. In this article we
will challenge the assumptions that underpin each of these
employments of the word ‘‘responsibility’’ and seek to
redefine the concept as such. The main thrust of the
argument is that we need to critically interrogate the idea of
‘‘identity’’ and deliberate decision-making that inform the
use of all three of these notions of ‘‘responsibility’’. By
drawing on selected concepts emanating from the oeuvre of
Gilles Deleuze and Fe´lix Guattari, our understanding of
agency moves away from ‘‘identity’’ towards ‘‘multiplicity’’.
In fact, it will be argued that our sense of ‘‘agency’’ is
a side-product of our own desiring-production as it operates
in and through our interactions with other human beings
and organizational structures. The article therefore
contends that ‘‘responsible management’’ requires ongoing
re-articulations of moral responsiveness.
