Organization violations in practice: a case study in a university setting∗I wish to thank all those people who have given support during the period of this case; that they cannot be named is itself part of the social construction of organizations, national disciplines and violations. This article is a revised version of a paper presented at Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism: “Organization(s), Institutions and Violence” Annual Conference, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, 30th July‐3rd August 2001. An earlier presentation of some of this material was made at the EGOS Conference, Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, July, 2000, and a subsequent related presentation was made at the European Sociological Association Conference, August‐September 2001 (Hearn, 2001b). This last paper was circulated extensively in Helsinki, and specific requests were made to key actors (including Professors Alapuro, Niemi, Valkonen and Wilhelmsson, and Chancellors Ihamuotila and Raivio) to make corrections to any factual information. None were given. I would like to thank Liisa Husu, Steve Linstead, Robert Westwood and anonymous referees for their helpful comments and suggestions, especially on methodological issues, and Wendy Parkin for long‐term collaboration.