The Library
Theorizing as mode of engagement in and through extreme contexts research
Tools
Wright, April L., Kent, Derin, Hällgren, Markus and Rouleau, Linda (2023) Theorizing as mode of engagement in and through extreme contexts research. Organization Theory, 4 (4). doi:10.1177/26317877231217310 ISSN 2631-7877.
|
PDF
wright-et-al-2023-theorizing-as-mode-of-engagement-in-and-through-extreme-contexts-research.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0. Download (280Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877231217310
Abstract
We explore how management and organization scholars theorize when undertaking research on extreme contexts, which are organizational settings where potential adverse events arise from risks, emergencies and disruptions. We propose that different ‘modes of engagement’ arise as researchers connect different aspects of the self to the extreme context; namely, personal self, professional self, moral self and vulnerable self. Each self-context connection plays out in different modes of engagement in the conduct of empirical research and enables different theorizing practices. We present these self-context connections as four ideal-typical modes of engagement. Adventuresome inquiry connects a personal self to the extreme context and theorizes by phenomenon-driven problematization. Instrumental scholarship expresses a professional self in the extreme context and theorizes by theory elaboration. Ideological improvement galvanizes a moral self in the extreme context and theorizes by change-driven abstraction. Reflexive labor exposes a vulnerable self and theorizes by dialectical interrogation. Our comprehensive framework of theorizing as mode of engagement contributes to extreme context research by elucidating how theorizing in and through such contexts is accomplished by researchers with multiple selves and by offering some guidance on how the four modes can be used dynamically to ensure generative theorizing. We also contribute to the broader literature on theorizing in management and organization studies by highlighting the need to consider the interplay between the researcher and the academic contributions they produce and by proposing a reflexive and dynamic framework of theorizing as modes of engagement.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School | ||||||
SWORD Depositor: | Library Publications Router | ||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Social sciences -- Research -- Design, Questionnaires -- Design., Management -- Research , Organizational sociology , Qualitative research—Methodology | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Organization Theory | ||||||
Publisher: | SAGE Publications | ||||||
ISSN: | 2631-7877 | ||||||
Official Date: | 21 December 2023 | ||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||
Volume: | 4 | ||||||
Number: | 4 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1177/26317877231217310 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Re-use Statement: | ** Embargo end date: 21-12-2023 ** From SAGE Publishing via Jisc Publications Router ** History: epub 21-12-2023. ** Licence for this article starting on 21-12-2023: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||
Copyright Holders: | © The Author(s) 2023. | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 12 January 2024 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 12 January 2024 | ||||||
Related URLs: |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year