This essay considers the ways that organizational discourse studies have deployed the concept 'discourse'. A review of the literature reveals conceptual ambiguities in the definition of 'discourse', as well as pre-analytical distinctions that are imposed between discourse, action and text, and between discourse, beliefs and material practices. The paper suggests that such a priori analytical categories risk tying the researcher to an inflexible research agenda, ruling out engaging with organizational specifics and emergent aspects of practice. The essay argues for an alternative view of discourse that centres on the following three arguments: discourse is not limited to language but also includes image, design, technology and other modes of meaning making; discourse and materiality co-emerge; and discourse manifests a specific, historically situated form of life.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Contingency; Intra-action; Materiality; Multi-modality; Organizational discourse
Research Division:	Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Research Group:	Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
Research Field:	Organisation and management theory
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Other health
Objective Field:	Other health not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Iedema, R (Professor Rick Iedema)
ID Code:	96588
Year Published:	2007
Web of Science® Times Cited:	81
Deposited By:	Health Sciences B
Deposited On:	2014-11-12
Last Modified:	2014-11-12
Downloads:	0