Materiality and discursivity in the study of organizations: agency, metaphors and structures

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In this article I draw upon the distinction between the semiotic and the semantic aspect of language in order to understand the role of material forces and discourse in shaping organizations. This helps finding complementarities between approaches more focused on language and discourse when studying institutions, and approaches centered on social structures as material causes for human agency, such as critical realism. The notion of metaphor, in particular, helps addressing various problems with the critical realist notion of structure. The critical realist notion of structure thus enriched can, in turn, help explaining how social forces shape language. The distinction between the semiotic and the semantic aspect of language also leads to a more general approach towards organizations in terms of which other theories can be interpreted.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)369-384
Number of pages16
JournalRevista Portuguesa de Filosofia
Volume74
Issue number2-3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Oct 2018

Keywords

  • Semiotics
  • Semantics
  • Language
  • Discourse
  • Materiality

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Materiality and discursivity in the study of organizations: agency, metaphors and structures'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this