Expecting the unexpected in Management Learning

Abstract

In this editorial we seek to explore the meaning of quirkiness and, through this, to embrace the possibilities that such a positioning affords. In so doing, we follow a tradition of reclaiming words that have formerly been used to subjugate or undermine, such as ‘queer’, and using them to ‘question dominant foundational assumptions about what is “normal” and what is “abnormal”’ (Rumens and Tyler, 2016: 225). By attempting to unsettle what is considered ‘normal’ in the study of management knowledge and learning, we endeavour to reclaim the word ‘quirky’ as a term with critical, reflexive potential.