Critical management studies not in The Netherlands

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore what critical could mean in critical management studies CMS in the current Dutch regime of recommodification. Designmethodologyapproach Conflicts that typify the context, within which criticalness does or does not emerge, are examined. The specific circumstance of criticalness in organizational studies within the Dutch political and intellectual circumstance is appraised. Findings The critical management studies of experimentation essai can respond to desolidarization and the need for ethical democratic governance but it can also lead to philosophizing without contextual engagement. Practical implications CMS has to be judged for what it tries and how it engages with its context and not the cleverness of its ideas. Originalityvalue CMS is examined not idealistically but in terms of current social and intellectual conditions