The material turn in organizational studies: contributions from “On Justification”

Abstract

This essay aims to contribute to the debate on the so-called “material turn” in social sciences, more specifically, to sociomateriality in organizational studies, including spatiality. We advocate the proposition of the theory of justification that states that the moments of dispute experienced in organizations are not limited to speeches but use objects and spaces to reaffirm their action logic. The theory of justification is approached considering its application in organizational studies, emphasizing the engagement of objects, things, and spaces that are activated in moments of dispute or test situations in organizations, contributing to the advances of this perspective of analysis. The study offers a perspective that adds to existing research on sociomateriality in organizational studies at different levels of analysis. After discussing the theory of justification, its moral logics, sociomateriality, and space in organizational studies, we show correlated studies and point out paths and reflections for a research agenda on the subject. The debate helps to understand the interaction of materiality with cognition, discourse, and behavior in different organizational dynamics.

Keywords:
Sociomateriality; Objects; Space; Things; Theory of justification