scholarly journals Rethinking performativity

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 930-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Baker ◽  
Sven Modell
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Alternative Conceptions ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Context Sensitive ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Structural Boundary ◽  
Realist Perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advance a critical realist perspective on performativity and use it to examine how novel conceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have performative effects.Design/methodology/approachTo illustrate how the authors’ critical realist understanding of performativity can play out, the authors offer a field study of an Australian packaging company and engage in retroductive and retrodictive theorising.FindingsIn contrast to most prior accounting research, the authors advance a structuralist understanding of performativity that pays more systematic attention to the causal relationships that underpin performative tendencies. The authors explain how such tendencies are conditioned by pre-existing, social structures, conceptualised in terms of multiple, intersecting norm circles. The authors illustrate their argument empirically by showing how specific conceptions of CSR, centred on the notion of “shared value”, were cemented by the interplay between the causal powers embedded in such norm circles and how this suppressed alternative conceptions of this phenomenon.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings draw attention to the structural boundary conditions under which particular conceptions of CSR can be expected to become performative. Greater attention to such boundary conditions, denoting the social structures that reinforce and counteract performative tendencies, is required to further cumulative, yet context-sensitive, theory development on this topic.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to adopt a critical realist perspective on performativity in the accounting literature. This perspective strikes a middle path between the highly constructivist ontology, adopted in most accounting research concerned with performativity and realist criticisms of this ontological position for de-emphasising the influence of pre-existing, objective realities on performativity.

Theoretical triangulation and pluralism in accounting research: a critical realist critique

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 1138-1150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Modell
Keyword(s):  
Critical Realism ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Theoretical Pluralism ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Knowledge Claims ◽  
Realist Perspective

Purpose – This is a rejoinder to Hoque et al. (2013) previously published in this journal. The purpose of this paper is to further elucidate and extend some of their key arguments related to the use of theoretical triangulation in accounting research. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual discussion focusing on how the understanding of the notion of theoretical triangulation can be enhanced from a critical realist perspective. Findings – The author draws attention to some ambiguities in Hoque et al.’s (2013) reasoning and advance a critique of their rather under-developed conceptions of the relationship between ontology and epistemology, the epistemic premises influencing the choice of theories and the role of theories in conditioning empirical observations and scholarly knowledge claims. To address these issues the author advances a critical realist approach and discusses its implications for theoretical triangulation in accounting research. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the ongoing debate about theoretical pluralism in accounting research by explicating how critical realism may further such pluralism and the inter-disciplinary accounting research project more generally.

scholarly journals Understanding Opportunities in Social Entrepreneurship: A Critical Realist Abstraction

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1032-1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoti Hu ◽  
Susan Marlow ◽  
Angelika Zimmermann ◽  
Lee Martin ◽  
Regina Frank
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Dynamic Structure ◽  
Structural Aspect ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Shaping Process ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
Realist Perspective

This article extends social entrepreneurship (SE) research by drawing upon a critical realist perspective to analyse dynamic structure/agency relations in SE opportunity emergence, illustrated by empirical evidence. Our findings demonstrate an agential aspect (opportunity actualisation following a path-dependent seeding-growing-shaping process) and a structural aspect (institutional, cognitive and embedded structures necessary for SE opportunity emergence) related to SE opportunities. These structures provide three boundary conditions for SE agency: institutional discrimination, an SE belief system and social feasibility. Within this article, we develop a novel theoretical framework to analyse SE opportunities plus, an applicable tool to advance related empirical research.

Using critical realism in critical accounting research – a commentary by two ANTs

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Baxter ◽  
Wai Fong Chua
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Methodological Choices ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
The Social

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to respond to Modell’s arguments regarding the relative usefulness of critical realist philosophy in relation to actor-network theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors outline the challenges in applying critical realism to critical accounting. The authors then consider Modell’s criticisms of actor-network theory, providing a counterargument highlighting the methodological choices distinguishing actor-network theory from critical realism.FindingsThe authors argue that critical realism, whilst providing an interesting addition to the critical accounting research project, confronts challenges disentangling intransitive and transitive forms of knowledge. Actor-network theory is presented as a way of examining accounting practices as local associations, providing practical opportunities to study (the assembly of) “the social”.Research limitations/implicationsMethodological diversity is to be explored, acknowledging the ontological politics of our choices.Originality/valueThis paper is an original commentary contributing to critical accounting research.

scholarly journals A critical realist approach to systems thinking in evaluation

Evaluation ◽  
2022 ◽  
pp. 135638902110646
Author(s):  
Denise E. De Souza
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Evaluation Practice ◽  
Work Program ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Closed Systems ◽  
Realist Perspective

Pawson and Tilley’s acknowledgment of programs embedded in multiple social systems has gained little traction in realist synthesis and evaluation practice. A practice focusing on fairly closed systems—explaining how programs work and do not work—has emerged. This article negotiates the boundaries of knowledge pertinent to have in program design and evaluation from a realist perspective. It highlights critical realism as another possible response to systems thinking in evaluation. Moving one level up a program, it theorizes about social structures, mechanisms, and causes operating in a complex system within which an education-to-work program is nested. Three implications of the approach are highlighted: it foregrounds the relational nature of social, psychological, and programmatic structures and mechanisms; enables policymakers to develop a broader understanding of structures needed to support a program; and enables program architects to ascertain how a planned program might assimilate and adapt to social structures and mechanisms already established in a context.

scholarly journals For structure

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 621-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Modell
Keyword(s):  
Structural Stability ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Conceptual Paper ◽  
Per Se

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contrast actor-network theory (ANT) and critical realism (CR) as two contemporary approaches to critical accounting research and advance a critique centred on the neglect of social structures in the former perspective.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper based on a critical reading of ANT inspired by CR.FindingsAlthough the author does not question the ability of ANT to be imbued with critical intent per se, the author is critical of its tendency to downplay the significance of pre-existing, social structures and the concomitant neglect of enduring and ubiquitous states of structural stability as an ontological possibility. This may lead to an overly optimistic view that naively valorises agency as a largely unfettered engine of emancipation. By contrast, CR offers a deeper and more nuanced ontological conception of how social structures constrain as well as enable emancipation. In contrast to the highly empiricist epistemology of ANT, it also provides an epistemological rationale for going beyond empirical descriptions of how social structures work to advance theoretically informed, explanatory critiques that are better suited for realising less easily observable opportunities for emancipation.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper advances the debate about how social structures should be examined in critical accounting research and the relative merits of doing so in advancing emancipatory projects.Originality/valueThe paper is an attempt to contrast ANT and CR as two distinct approaches to critical accounting research and thus extends the debate about what such research is and could be.

Investigating learning in social enterprises: a boundary perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankita Tandon
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Situated Learning ◽  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Boundary Objects ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to further theory development in the field of social entrepreneurship by developing a research agenda for examining organizational learning in social enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – This paper anchors in the interpretive paradigm of learning. It draws on social entrepreneurship literature to identify unique features of social enterprises. These characteristics are then investigated from a situated learning perspective to develop research questions around the following themes: social structures enabling learning, boundaries, boundary objects, boundary roles and boundary interactions. Findings – Boundaries are identified as loci around which critical learning interactions occur in social enterprises. The significance of studying implicit and explicit boundaries, knowledge brokering, boundary objects and boundary interactions for gaining novel insights into the social enterprise learning process is highlighted. Originality/value – This paper assists the progression of academic discussion in social entrepreneurship from definitional debates to critical organizational-level phenomena. It brings to attention the importance of studying organizational learning in the unique context of social entrepreneurship for advancing organization theory. It informs practice by highlighting critical social structures, boundaries, agents and objects which need to be identified and managed for promoting learning in social enterprises.

Questioning the ontology of sociomateriality: a critical realist perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 1073-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deniz Tunçalp
Keyword(s):  
Information Search ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Realm ◽  
Realist Perspective ◽  
Social Aspects Of Technology

Purpose – The author join Orlikowski (2007) in seeking the “reconfiguration of our conventional assumptions and considerations of materiality.” In her sociomaterial approach, Orlikowski combines what is social and what is material into a “sociomaterial assemblage” in considering material and social aspects of technology. However, the author thinks this conflation creates a number of analytical and phenomenological problems for the understanding of technology in organizing. Rather than considering materiality with a primacy, the author argue that the proposed approach may reduce what is material into a social essence and makes materiality of a technology impossible to perceive separate from the social aspects. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical examples of “Information Search” and “Mobile Communication” in Orlikowski (2007) are further employed to discuss the grounds of the criticism. Findings – The author propose a critical realist perspective to technology both as social and material recursively. Research limitations/implications – The analysis is primarily ontological and meta-theoretical. In future, extensive reviews can be performed on what questions have been asked and what questions have been omitted by researchers employing different versions of sociomaterial perspective. Practical implications – The perspective offered by this paper enables asking new questions and necessary empirical leverage to analyze how one technology becomes materialized and successful in the social realm and not the other. The author also discusses strategic conditions of how one successful technology can be replaced by another. Social implications – Understanding the state of the art in theory in understanding material and social aspects of technology would help us develop novel strategies to contest, complement and adapt to material and social issues of technologies. Originality/value – This paper is among the few critical papers that meta-theoretically question the relatively recent sociomaterial turn in organization studies and information systems fields.

A response to “theoretical triangulation and pluralism in accounting research: a critical realist critique”

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 1151-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahirul Hoque ◽  
Mark A Covaleski ◽  
Tharusha N Gooneratne
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Classical Work

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to respond to Modell’s paper entitled “Theoretical triangulation and pluralism in accounting research: a critical realist critique” (AAAJ this issue), which offers a two-part exposition of topics and issues pertaining to the recent paper “Theoretical triangulation and pluralism in research methods in organizational and accounting research” (Hoque et al., 2013). Design/methodology/approach – Critical analysis of Modell’s observations pertaining to the paper drawing on the classical work of Burrell and Morgan (1979). Findings – The authors reemphasize the need for an interaction between adopting an ontological stance and then conducting empirical research where the authors stated that the intention was not to argue any idea that theoretical triangulation approach should become the dominant approach and “take over” single theory approach. Instead, the authors demonstrate the ways theoretical triangulation can advance the understanding of multifaceted organizational realities. Originality/value – The authors make a contribution to the generation of knowledge in research by addressing the tradeoffs involved such as possible theoretical incoherence and lack of focus when integrating theories with different ontological and epistemological assumptions.

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