*Posted on behalf of Barbara Simpson and Moshe Farjoun*
Dear Colleagues
We invite you to join us in Anaheim at a PDW sponsored by OMT, SAP and OB, where we look forward to some stimulating conversation about the future potentials for Pragmatism in organizational research, and also to laying the foundations for an international community of Pragmatist-inspired scholars.
What: PDW on "Pragmatism, Organizations and Management – Ideas and Applications"
When: Saturday, August 6, 10:15 AM to 11:45 AM
Where: Platinum Ballroom B @ the Anaheim Marriott
Chair: Moshe Farjoun, York U.
Chair: Barbara Simpson, U. of Strathclyde
Presenter: Chris Ansell, U. of California, Berkeley
Presenter: John Paul MacDuffie, U. of Pennsylvania
Presenter: Markus C. Becker, U. of Southern Denmark
Facilitator: Matthew Kraatz, U. of Illinois
Facilitator: Marc Ventresca, U. of Oxford
Summary:
The ideas of the original Pragmatists – Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey and George Herbert Mead – have profoundly influenced developments in organizational theory and behavior, particularly in relation to the social dimensions of practice, and yet this influence is largely unrecognised in our contemporary literature. Pragmatism provides fresh insights, informs different ways of thinking, and generates new questions and predictions, so it has considerable potential to be much more than a mere wellspring that inspires more specialized research. In this PDW, we propose that the time is now ripe to re-activate the untapped potentials of Pragmatism with a view to improving both theory and practice in organizations. We have assembled a panel of internationally recognized scholars who have drawn on Pragmatist ideas in their own research in various ways. They will highlight the richness and relevance of Pragmatism to research in areas such as practice theory, process philosophy, operations and strategy research, routine dynamics, evolutionary theory, management practice and social science more generally. Round Table discussions will then jointly consider ways of making Pragmatism more central, relevant and useful to members of the Academy.
If you would like any further information about this PDW, please don't hesitate to contact the organizers, Moshe Farjoun (MFarjoun@schulich.yorku.ca) or Barbara Simpson (barbara.simpson@strath.ac.uk).