Postmodernism and Social Research

by Mats Alvesson, Alvesson Mats

Overview

This book provides an overview of postmodern themes, evaluates the possibilities and dangers of postmodernist thinking and develops ideas on how a selective, sceptical incorporation of postmodernism can make social research more conscious about problems and pitfalls, and more creative in working with empirical material (so called data). A reflexive orientation runs throughout the book, which addresses themes such as how to understand the individual in research, how to deal with the knowledge/power connection, how to relate to language and how to unpack rather than take for granted socially dominant categories in research work. One chapter addresses the research interview in the light of postmodernist concerns about the naivety of assuming that the interviewee is simply an informant, a truth-teller authentically expressing his or her experiences and meaning. Other chapters address issues of voice, interpretation, writing and reflexivity. The book includes a range of empirical illustrations of how postmodernist ideas can inspire social research, and in all it represents a valuable text for students and researchers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780335206315
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill Companies, The
Publication date:	08/01/2002
Series:	Understanding Social Research Ser.
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.47(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mats Alvesson is Professor of Business Administration at the University of Lund, Sweden. He has earlier held positions in Montreal, Turku, Linkoping, Stockholm and Gothenburg. He was Arthur Andersen distinguished visiting scholar at Cambridge University, Spring 2000. Research interests include critical theory, gender, power, knowledge-intensive work and organizations, organizational culture and symbolism, qualitative method and philosophy of science. Recent books include Corporate Culture and Organizational Symbolism (1992, with P. O. Berg), Cultural Perspectives on Organizations (1993), Gender, Managers, and Organizations (1994, with Yvonne Billing), Management of Knowledge-Intensive Companies (1995), Making Sense of Management: A Critical Introduction (1996, with Hugh Willmott), Communication, Power and Organization (1996), Understanding Gender and Organization (1997, with Yvonne Billing), Doing Critical Management Research (2000, with Stan Deetz), Reflexive Methodology (2000, with Kaj Skoldberg) and Understanding Organizational Culture (2002).

Table of Contents

Series editor's foreword
Preface
Introduction
Postmodernism
a sceptical overview
Key themes in postmodernism
Taking language seriously
Unpacking categories
Postmodernism and interviews
Interpreting and writing
Selectively applying pomo thinking
an illustration
Conclusions
Suggested further readings
Glossary
References
Index.

Mats Alvesson is Professor of Business Administration at the University of Lund, Sweden. He has earlier held positions in Montreal, Turku, Linkoping, Stockholm and Gothenburg. He was Arthur Andersen distinguished visiting scholar at Cambridge University, Spring 2000. Research interests include critical theory, gender, power, knowledge-intensive work and organizations, organizational culture and symbolism, qualitative method and philosophy of science. Recent books include Corporate Culture and Organizational Symbolism (1992, with P. O. Berg), Cultural Perspectives on Organizations (1993), Gender, Managers, and Organizations (1994, with Yvonne Billing), Management of Knowledge-Intensive Companies (1995), Making Sense of Management: A Critical Introduction (1996, with Hugh Willmott), Communication, Power and Organization (1996), Understanding Gender and Organization (1997, with Yvonne Billing), Doing Critical Management Research (2000, with Stan Deetz), Reflexive Methodology (2000, with Kaj Skoldberg) and Understanding Organizational Culture (2002).