A Paradox Approach to Societal Tensions during the Pandemic Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has consequences that we will continue to face as a society for years to come. The seemingly intractable nature of the pandemic yields many tensions at multiple and interconnected levels—planetary, societal, organizational, and individual (Hahn et al., 2015). Few organization theories are as versatile as paradox to capture such complex phenomena. Defined as a “persistent contradiction between interdependent elements” (Schad et al., 2016, p. 10), research seeks to explore tensions’ sources, nature, management, and dynamics (Carmine & Smith, in press). Specifically, at the societal level, researchers have drawn on paradox theory to address important questions related to sustainability (Hahn et al., 2014; Hengst et al., in press; Sharma & Bansal, 2017), social impact (Smith & Besharov, 2019; Smith et al., 2013), and systems change (Hahn & Knight, 2019; Schad & Bansal, 2018).

The nine short essays in this article focus at the societal level and the various tensions brought forth by the current pandemic such as the tension related to health and economy (see Schad & Etter; Sheep; Li & Keller further); risk and the associated question of trust in science (see Fairhurst & Endres further); and the rigor of the scientific process (see Lê & Pradies further). These essays show us that COVID-19 is not an isolated phenomenon rather there are multiple and interrelated crises facing us. One cannot understand the implications of COVID-19 without also considering its interrelationship with other crises such as the vicious cycle of distrust in pubic authority (see Rocheville & Bartunek further), women leadership and the tension of agency-communion (see Putnam & Buzzanell further), raising collective voice against injustice while staying safe in physical gatherings (see Pamphile further), and addressing issues such as climate change which are intertwined with the current crisis yet not as evident (see Hahn further).