In this article we outline the contribution of the field of Discursive Psychology (DP) for the understanding of interests in organization studies. We discuss the limitations of viewing interests and motives as cognitive states, essential drivers of action and explanatory variables. Following DP, we propose to view interests and motives as a key component of meaningful social practice, making interests and motives a topic for analysis rather than resource for explanation. DP offers a distinct approach to analyzing the accounts that people make about their interests in a particular state of affairs, their stake in a particular situation, or their motive in pursuing a particular course of action. To illustrate our argument, we analyze two data extracts from a qualitative study of a UK public-private partnership. By illustrating the way in which interests are dealt with in different interactional situations, we seek to contribute by outlining a more sophisticated and insightful way of understanding interests within organization studies.
Alvesson M. and Kärreman D. ( 2000) Varieties of discourse: On the study of organizations through discourse analysis. Human Relations53(9): 1125-1249.
2.
Alvesson M. and Kärreman D. ( 2007) Constructing mystery: Empirical matters in theory development . Academy of Management Review32(4): 1265-1281.
3.
Alvesson M. and Sköldberg K. ( 2000) Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research . London: SAGE.
4.
Alvesson M. and Willmott H. ( 2002) Identity regulation as organizational control: Producing the appropriate individual. Journal of Management Studies39(5): 619-644.
5.
Antaki C. and Horowitz A. ( 2000) Using identity ascription to disqualify a rival version of events as ‘interested’. Research on Language and Social Interaction33(2): 155-177.
6.
Antaki C., Barnes R. and Leudar I. ( 2007) Members’ and analysts’ interests: Formulations in psychotherapy. In: Hepburn A and Wiggins S (eds) Discursive Research in Practice . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 166-181.
7.
Ashcraft KL and Mumby DK ( 2004) Reworking Gender: A Feminist Communicology of Organizations . Thousand Oaks CA: SAGE.
8.
Billig M. ( 1996) Arguing and Thinking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
9.
Bourdieu P. ( 1992) Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge : Polity Press.
10.
Bourdieu P. ( 1993) Sociology in Question. London: SAGE.
11.
Clarke J. and Newman J. ( 1997) The Managerial State: Power, Politics and Ideology in the Remaking of Social Welfare. London: SAGE.
12.
Deetz S. ( 2003) Reclaiming the legacy of the linguistic turn. Organization10(3): 421-430.
13.
DiMaggio P.J. ( 1988) Interest and agency in institutional theory. In: Zucker LG (ed) Institutional Patterns and Organizations. Cambridge MA: Ballinger, 3-22.
14.
Dixon J. and Wetherell M. ( 2004) On discourse and dirty nappies: Gender, the division of labour and the social psychology of distributive justice. Theory and Psychology14(2):167-189.
15.
Edwards D. ( 1996) Discourse and Cognition. London: SAGE.
16.
Edwards D. and Potter J. ( 1992) Discursive Psychology. London: SAGE.
17.
Edwards D. and Potter J. ( 2005) Discursive psychology, mental states and descriptions . In: Molder H and Potter J (eds) Talk and Cognition: Discourse, Mind and Social Interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 241-259.
18.
Edwards D., Ashmore M. and Potter J. ( 1995) Death and furniture: The rhetoric, politics and theology of bottom line arguments against relativism. History of the Human Sciences8(2): 25-49.
19.
Fairclough N. ( 1992) Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge : Polity Press.
20.
Fairhurst G. ( 2007) Discursive Leadership In Conversation with Leadership psychology. Thousand Oaks CA: SAGE.
21.
Fairhurst G.(2009) Considering context in discursive leadership research. Human Relations62(11): 1607-1633.
22.
Gergen K. ( 1992) Organization theory in the postmodern era. In: Reed M and Hughes M (eds) Rethinking Organizations. London: SAGE, 207-226.
23.
Gilbert N. and Mulkay M. ( 1984) Opening Pandora’s Box: A Sociological Analysis of Scientists’ Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
24.
Grant D. and Hardy C. ( 2004) Introduction: Struggles with organizational discourse . Organization Studies25(1): 5-13.
25.
Griesinger D.W. ( 1990) The human side of economic organization. Academy of Management Review15(3): 478-499.
26.
Harre R. ( 1979/1993) Social Being. Oxford : Blackwell.
27.
Heracleous L. and Barrett M. ( 2001) Organizational change as discourse: Communicative actions and deep structures in the context of information technology implementation . Academy of Management Journal44(4): 755-778.
28.
Hutchby I. and Wooffitt R. ( 2008) Conversation Analysis: Principles, Practices and Applications , 2nd edn. Cambridge: Polity Press.
29.
Larsson M. and Lundholm S. ( 2008) Leadership in interaction - a micro-discursive analysis of everyday interactions in a bank. Paper presented at 8th International Conference on Organizational Discourse Queen Mary University of London 23rd- 25th July 2008.
30.
Lamont P. ( 2007) Paranormal belief and the avowal of prior scepticism. Theory and Psychology17(5): 681-696.
31.
Leitch S. and Davenport S. ( 2005) The politics of discourse: The marketisation of the New Zealand science and innovation system. Human Relations58(7): 891-912.
32.
Leitch S. and Davenport S. ( 2007) Strategic ambiguity as a discourse practice: The role of keywords in the discourse on sustainable biotechnology. Discourse Studies9(1): 43-61.
33.
Maguire S. and Hardy C. ( 2006) The emergence of new global institutions: A discursive perspective. Organization Studies27(1): 7-29.
34.
Marshak R., Keenoy T., Oswick C. and Grant D. ( 2000) From outer words to inner worlds. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science36(2): 245-258.
35.
Mills CW ( 1940) Situated actions and vocabularies of motive. American Sociological Review5(6): 904-913.
36.
Mumby DK and Clair RP ( 1997) Organizational discourse. In: van Dijk TA (ed) Discourse Studies Volume2: Discourse as Social Interaction. London: SAGE, 181-205.
37.
Munir K. and Phillips N. ( 2005) The birth of the Kodak moment: institutional entrepreneurship and the adoption of new technologies. Organization Studies26(11): 1665-1687.
38.
Phillips L. and Jørgensen M. ( 2002) Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method. London: SAGE.
39.
Phillips N., Lawrence TB and Hardy C. ( 2004) Discourse and institutions. Academy of Management Review29(4): 635-652.
40.
Potter J. ( 1996) Representing Reality: Discourse, Rhetoric and Social Construction . London: SAGE.
41.
Potter J. and Hepburn A. ( 2005) Qualitative interviews in psychology: Problems and possibilities . Qualitative Research in Psychology2: 281-307.
42.
Potter J. and Hepburn A. ( 2008) Discursive constructionism. In: Holstein JA and Gubrium JF (eds) Handbook of Constructionist Research. New York: Guilford Press, 275-293.
43.
Potter J. and Hepburn A. ( 2010) A kind of governance: Rules, time and psychology in institutional organization. In: Llewellyn N and Hindmarsh J (eds) Organization, Interaction and Practice: Studies of Real Time Work and Organising. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 49-73.
44.
Potter J. and Puchta C. ( 2007) Mind, mousse and moderation. In: Hepburn A and Wiggins S (eds) Discursive Research in Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 104-124.
45.
Potter J. and Wetherell M. ( 1987) Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behaviour. London: SAGE.
46.
Potter J., Edwards D. and Wetherell M. ( 1993) A model of discourse in action. American Behavioral Scientist36(3): 383-401.
47.
Putnam LL, Grant D., Mickelson G. and Cutcher L. ( 2005) Discourse and resistance: Targets, practices and consequences . Management Communication Quarterly19(1): 5-18.
48.
Rocha H. and Ghoshal S. ( 2006) Beyond self-interest revisited. Journal of Management Studies43(3): 585-619.
49.
Schegloff EA ( 1999) Schegloff’s texts’ as ‘Billig’s data’: A critical reply. Discourse and Society10(4): 558-575.
50.
Searle J. ( 1977) Reiterating the differences: A reply to Derrida Glyph 1: 172-208.
51.
Searle J. ( 1995) The Construction of Social Reality. London: Penguin.
52.
Sheep M.L. ( 2006) When categories collide: A discursive psychology approach to the elasticity of multiple identities. PhD Thesis, Business Administration, University of Cincinnati.
53.
Silverman D. ( 1999) Warriors or collaborators: Reworking methodological controversies in the study of institutional interaction. In: Sarangi S and Roberts C (eds) Talk, Work and Institutional Order. Berlin: De Gruyter, 401-426.
54.
Speer SA ( 1999) Feminism and conversation analysis: An oxymoron? Feminism and Psychology9(4): 471-478.
55.
Sykes A. ( 1965) Economic interest and the Hawthorne researches: A comment . Human Relations18(3): 253-263.
56.
Symon G. ( 2005) Exploring resistance from a rhetorical perspective. Organization Studies26(11): 1641-1663.
57.
Symon G. ( 2008) Developing the political perspective on technological change through rhetorical analysis. Management Communication Quarterly22(1): 74-98.
58.
Symon G. and Clegg C. ( 2005) Constructing identity and participation during technological change. Human Relations58(9): 1141-1166.
59.
Ten Have P. ( 1999) Doing Conversation Analysis: A Practical Guide. London: SAGE.
60.
Tilly C. ( 2006) Why? What Happens When People Give Reasons . . . and Why . Princeton: Princeton University Press.
61.
Vaara E. and Monin P.(2010) A recursive perspective on discursive legitimation and organizational action in mergers and acquisitions. Organization Science21(1): 3-22.
62.
Vaara E. and Tienari JA ( 2008) A discursive perspective on legitimation strategies in multinational corporations. Academy of Management Review33(4): 985-993.
63.
van Dijk T. ( 1995) Discourse analysis as ideology analysis. In: Schäffner C and Wenden A (eds) Language and Peace. Aldershot : Dartmouth Publishing, 17-33.
64.
Weber M. ( 1947) The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. New York: The Free Press.
65.
Wetherell M. ( 1998) Positioning and interpretative repertoires: Conversation analysis and post-structuralism in dialogue. Discourse and Society9(3): 387-412
66.
Wetherell M. and Potter J. ( 1992) Mapping the Language of Racism: Discourse and the Legitimation of Exploitation. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
67.
Wetherell M., Stiven H. and Potter J. ( 1987) Unequal egalitarianism: A preliminary study of discourses concerning gender and employment opportunities. British Journal of Social Psychology26: 59-71.
68.
Wiggins S. and Potter J. ( 2008) Discursive psychology. In: Willig C and Stainton Rogers W (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in PsychologyLondon: SAGE, 72-89.
69.
Wooffitt R. ( 1992) Telling Tales of the Unexpected: The Organization of Factual Discourse. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
70.
Woolgar S. and Pawluch D. ( 1985) Ontological gerrymandering: The anatomy of social problems explanations. Social Problems32(3): 214-227.
