Persuasively arguing for the inclusion of overlooked female figures whilst simultaneously bridging feminist theory and critical historiography, Historical Female Management Theorists features four literary non-fiction, fictitious conversations with historic female proto-management theorists from Canada and the United States: Frances Perkins (1880-1965), Hallie Flanagan (1890-1969), Madeleine Parent (1918-2012), and Viola Desmond (1914-1965).


These women have been noted for their contributions in various fields, however their accomplishments and lessons have largely been overlooked by management and organizational history. A variety of archival, biographical and media sources are combined with Williams’s own sense-making and learnings to stitch together a believable, but fictional encounter, introducing a method for feminist historical inquiry – ficto-feminism. A blend of auto-ethnography, collective biography and fictocriticism, this new method explores mechanisms to enact personal agency in subject and writer, featuring a novel narrative, storytelling style inspired by fictional writing.


Historical Female Management Theorists is essential reading for both feminist scholars and management historians.