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On a Growing Dualism in Organizational Discourse Research

University of Oklahoma

Duality arguments are now a common perspective employed in organizational discourse research to avoid the problematic dualism of necessarily prioritizing structure or agency. Despite this considerable philosophical maturity, not all duality approaches are created equal. In fact, duality theorizing in current organizational discourse research has developed into two perspectives— structured in action or acted in structure. This article outlines the characteristics of each research program and provides an illustration of how similar organizational phenomena may be interpreted differently depending on paradigmatic orientation. Then, methodological recommendations and two emerging theoretical myopias—duality and organizing biases—are described to challenge scholars to employ dialectically these seemingly incommensurate perspectives in their theorizing of 21st-century organizational discourse.

Key Words: organizational discourse • duality • structure • agency • disorganizing property of communication

This version was published on May 1, 2009

Management Communication Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 4, 614-638 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0893318908331100


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