The tradition and autonomy of the critical organizational studies in Brazil

Abstract

This article's objectives are to illustrate the tradition and autonomy of the Critical Organizational Studies (COS) and make recommendations to keep alive the critical epistemology in Brazil. A comparison was developed between Critical Management Studies (CMS) and the Brazilian COS, demonstrating epistemological differences and developing propositions. The methodology is presented, indicating examined conferences and magazines and criteria for defining critical articles and the applied thematic classification. A comparison was done between the national critical production from 1980-2008 and the production of CMS from 1999-2007. We concluded by indicating Brazilian critical authors influenced by Guerreiro Ramos and Maurício Tragtenberg, making an evaluation of the impact of the international movements in Brazil and suggesting future research.