The other in organizational studies: heterological encounters with Quilombola communities in Paraná

This article reflects on the possibilities and limits of heterological research in organizational studies through empirical engagement with Quilombola communitiesAfro-Brazilian groups historically positioned as ‘Other’ by colonial and racial structures in Brazil. Drawing on Michel de Certeau’s notion of heterology as a logos of the Other, we examine how this approach disrupts ethnographic authority and its colonial legacies. Rather than claiming methodological purity, we acknowledge heterology’s tensions: even in refusing representation, the researcher remains embedded in Western academic institutions and retains the power to write, select, and frame. Through field excerpts from two Quilombola communities in Paraná, we show how heterological practice unfolds not through epistemic innocence, but through situated encounters marked by reciprocity, ambiguity, and ethical responsibility. We argue that heterology does not grant the Other a voice but traces their absencetransforming both knowledge production and the researcher.