Offering a solid grounding in the historical and contemporary concerns of the field, Central Currents in Organization Studies I Volumes 1-4 presents an innovative and thematically coherent selection of seminal articles. This four-volume set provides an essential benchmark reference to any library concerned with the field of organization studies. Presenting the most influential and provocative contributions to the field, this major work reviews the development of organization studies, including both mainstream and more innovative topics, leading through to recent debates on the status of organizations. In addition to over 70 key original articles included in the collection, the set opens with an introductory editorial essay by Stewart Clegg setting out the rationale behind the selections, and providing an illuminating discussion of the development of organization studies and its theoretical foundations. Every discipline has the tradition of recording the central genealogical line of its development with work that comprises the great, the provocative and the field-defining writings. This major reference, easily organized to ensure comprehensive coverage of the essential tenets in the field, is the definitive resource for students, researchers and academics of organization studies. § Volume One: Historical Perspectives and Emergent Tensions looks at the early history of organization theory, including the capitalist versus religious roots of modern organizations and the historically contested reasons for the emergence of modern organizations. It also addresses the emergent tensions in the field as it begins to become a specialist area of study. § Volume Two: The Foundations, presents formal theories of modern organizations, addressing the significant founding attempts to have an empirically based science of organizations, which built on the work of the German sociologist, Max Weber. This volume then