Troubling/transforming working lives: Editorial introduction.

This summary discusses the influential work of Judith Butler, particularly their book Gender Trouble, which has had a significant impact on feminist thinking. Butler's writings challenge traditional male-dominated theories in the field of work and organization studies, offering valuable insights into how organizations shape and exploit our desire for recognition. The article explores the opportunities and challenges of applying Butler's ideas to understand and transform organizational life, with a focus on vulnerability, resistance, and non-violence. It also highlights Butler's recent work on ethics, interdependence, and the need to sustain our social and natural environment. The article includes five substantive papers and an "In Conversation" event with Judith Butler, providing further insights and discussions on their upcoming book Who's Afraid of Gender. This text is a summary of a special issue of the journal Gender, Work and Organization that explores the impact of Judith Butler's ideas on the analysis of gender, work, and organization. The contributions in the issue evaluate the avenues that Butler's work has opened up and consider the unexplored questions and challenges it raises. The papers in the issue discuss topics such as the individualization of vulnerabilities in organizational contexts, the ethical potential of art in contesting unequal valuation of working bodies, the experiences of loss in times of planetary crisis, and the survival and overcoming of normative organizational violence. The summary concludes by expressing gratitude to the contributors and hopes that the papers will provide reference points for future work in the field. [Extracted from the article]