The “Finger Puppets”: Examining the Use of Artifacts to Create Liminal Moments in Management Education

Elliott, Carole; Stead, Valerie; Heneberry, Pam; Turner, Arthur; Kempster, Steve

Abstract

The resource review we examine here is provided by the Unemployed Philosophers Guild http://www.philosophersguild.com/Finger-Puppets/). On the company’s website they comment: “. . . we have discovered that people seem to really like the giants of our culture reduced to little finger puppets . . .” In particular, we consider the use of the “finger puppets” to generate a liminal moment (Hawkins & Edwards, 2013) in management education. Liminal moments have been described as “moments in and out of time” (Delanty, 2010, p. 31). A sense of “neither here nor there; they are betwixt and between the positions assigned and arrayed by law, custom, convention, and ceremony” . . . that allow for the “realm of pure possibility” (Turner, 1967, p. 95). We explore the use of this resource as a liminal tool and its value to management education.

• Journal Article Type: Review
• Acceptance Date: Oct 24, 2014
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Oct 24, 2016
• Journal: Journal of Management Education
• Print ISSN: 1052-5629
• Electronic ISSN: 1552-6658
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 433-438
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562914540904
• Keywords: finger, puppets, artifacts, liminal, management, educaton
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/826912
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1052562914540904
• Contract Date: Oct 24, 2016