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What Do We Mean by Performativity in Organizational and Management Theory? The Uses and Abuses of Performativity

Gond, J.-P.; Cabantous, L.; Harding, N.; Learmonth, M.

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Authors

J.-P. Gond

L. Cabantous

N. Harding

M. Learmonth



Abstract

John Austin introduced the formulation ‘performative utterance’ in his 1962 book How to Do Things with Words. This term and the related concept of performativity have subsequently been interpreted in numerous ways by social scientists and philosophers such as Lyotard, Butler, Callon and Barad, leading to the coexistence of several foundational perspectives on performativity. This paper reviews and evaluates critically how organization and management theory (OMT) scholars have used these perspectives, and how the power of performativity has, or has not, stimulated new theory-building. In performing a historical and critical review of performativity in OMT, the authors’ analysis reveals the uses, abuses and under-uses of the concept by OMT scholars. It also reveals the lack of both organizational conceptualizations of performativity and analysis of how performativity is organized. Ultimately, the authors’ aim is to provoke a ‘performative turn’ in OMT by unleashing the power of the performativity concept to generate new and stronger organizational theories.

Citation

Gond, J., Cabantous, L., Harding, N., & Learmonth, M. (2016). What Do We Mean by Performativity in Organizational and Management Theory? The Uses and Abuses of Performativity. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(4), 440-463. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12074

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 23, 2015
Online Publication Date Jul 7, 2015
Publication Date Oct 1, 2016
Deposit Date May 24, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal International Journal of Management Reviews
Print ISSN 1460-8545
Electronic ISSN 1468-2370
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 18
Issue 4
Pages 440-463
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12074
Keywords Austin, Organization theory, Performativity, Translation, Theory-building.
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1428033

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Gond, J.-P., Cabantous, L., Harding, N. and Learmonth, M. (2016), What Do We Mean by Performativity in Organizational and Management Theory? The Uses and Abuses of Performativity. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(4): 440-463, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12074. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.




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