Find out what is going on in the extreme contexts community

Organising in Extreme Contexts Seminar series (online)

The Organizing in Extreme Contexts Seminar Series is an online, international, and interdisciplinary series of talks and workshops bringing together the community of scholars researching extreme contexts. It has been held since 2020 and is hosted by ECU Co-Director Derin Kent and ECU Scientific advisor Markus Hällgren.

For upcoming seminars, please check back here, the LinkedIn page of the ECU, or Extreme Contexts Community. To get on the mailing list, please email derin.kent@wbs.ac.uk or markus.hallgren@umu.se

Some previous episodes of the series are available to watch on YouTube (external link): Extreme Contexts - YouTube

Advanced Ethnographic Methods in Organisation and Management Research (Warwick Business School)

We have two last minute places on our Advanced Ethnographic Methods in Organisation & Management Research course at Warwick Business School. There is no registration fee this year and relatively inexpensive accommodation can be found nearby.

This course is designed for Doctoral students and students on Master’s-level pathways into Doctoral study who have (or will have) an active ethnographic research project. It runs in face-to-face two-day blocks (Feb 17th & 18th, April 28th & 29th), followed by a hybrid day (June 3rd) and then online drop-in sessions. This ensures students are supported throughout the entire journey of their project.

The course provides structured methodological support across core and advanced aspects of ethnographic research, including field planning, reflexivity and positionality, fieldnote practices, early-stage analysis, memo writing, visual representations like diagrams and table creation, and feedback on emerging projects.

The module is led by ECU Co-Director Adrian Marrison and facilitated by an outstanding group of ethnographic scholars, including ECU Steering committee member Davide Nicolini (WBS), ECU scientific advisor Mark de Rond (Cambridge), Karin Ali (Warwick Medical School), and Marjolaine Rostain (WBS). Students will engage closely with facilitators and classic and contemporary ethnographic scholarship, while working directly on their own projects. The emphasis is on building methodological confidence, analytic judgement, and ethnographic craft in ways that directly inform their ongoing research and eventual journal submission.

If you or a student you supervise are seeking advanced methodological training in ethnography to support an active or emerging research project, please email to get in touch to discuss suitability.

Reframing the Extreme: Moving from Context to Theory (EGOS Sub-Theme)

The 2026 EGOS hosted online by University of Bergamo will feature the sub-theme "Reframing the extreme: Moving from context to theory" convened by ECU Co-Director Derin Kent, Gloria Kutscher (University of Southampton), and Daniel Geiger (University of Hamburg).

The programme can be found here (external link): EGOS - Sub-Themes: CALL for Short Papers - European Group for Organizational Studies

Summary: Research under the label of extreme contexts has seen a vast proliferation of studies. Yet, whilst much effort has been put into defining context, the notion of “extreme” has still not been subject to in-depth reflection. It is often used as a catchword to qualify diverse phenomena other than the context in which an extreme event has occurred. Hence, we believe it is time to take stock and start moving beyond our shared interest in the phenomenon of the extreme towards a shared theoretical interest of understanding how the extreme comes into being. First, we can move towards a broader perspective on what extremeness consists of, away from understanding the extreme as a context or a short-lived event only. Second, we can move towards a deeper investigation of the nature of the extreme and its tendency to bring out dualities, like vulnerability and resilience.

Extreme Contexts Community on LinkedIn

The Extreme Contexts Community is a place to find and post information of interest to the extreme contexts community, including upcoming events and initiatives, journal publications, special issues, and more. Join at (external link): https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14245317

News can also be emailed to info@organizingextremecontexts.org

Mentoring Programme

The mentoring programme is designed to provide guidance and support to postdocs and junior faculty (nontenured) as they navigate their academic and professional journeys. The mentoring programme is built on the idea to foster a culture of community among extreme contexts enthusiasts, and to create friendly exchanges among like-minded scholars.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor or mentee in the next batch of this initiative, please contact Madeleine Rauch at m.rauch@jbs.cam.ac.uk

The aim of the RnR Club is to develop the community and to help scholars publish extreme context research in high quality Management and Organization Studies journals. To sign up, contact Robin Burrrow at robin.burrow@york.ac.uk

Special Issues - Call for Papers

Journal of Management Studies – Management in times of geopolitical tensions and turmoil: How war, security, and defense pose new imperatives for organizations. Submission deadline 31 March 2026. Information available at (external link): Special Issue Call for Papers: Management in Times of Geopolitical Tensions and Turmoil: How War, Security, and Defense Pose New Imperatives for Organizations - Society for the Advancement of Management Studies