Questioning and Organization Studies

Kelemen, Mihaela; Rumens, Nick; Vo, Linh Chi

Abstract

© The Author(s) 2018. In organization studies, there is a cleavage in the literature that separates ‘questions’ and ‘questioning’ at a very fundamental philosophical level. On the one hand, the objective notion of ‘questions’ has already been well addressed. On the other hand, the process of ‘questioning’ remains under-researched. Although questioning the process of questioning is challenging, this is precisely where American pragmatism can be helpful. As we explore in this essay, the forward-looking quality of pragmatist inquiry is what motors the process of questioning. Our pragmatist-inflected argument is that questioning does not always have to serve critique and position building in the organization studies field. Rather, questioning out of curiosity can build new dialogue and open up new methodological avenues. This will help change the habitual ways in which we explore ideas, problems and situations in organization studies as well as lead to more democratic forms of organizing.

Citation

Kelemen, M., Rumens, N., & Vo, L. C. (2019). Questioning and Organization Studies. Organization Studies, 40(10), 1529-1542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618783350

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 14, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jul 5, 2018
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Sep 10, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 16, 2019
• Journal: Organization Studies
• Print ISSN: 0170-8406
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-3044
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 10
• Pages: 1529-1542
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618783350
• Keywords: Management of Technology and Innovation; Strategy and Management; Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2597982
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0170840618783350