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A Practice Theory in Practice Analytical Consequences in the Study of Organization and Socio-Technical Change

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A Practice Theory in Practice Analytical Consequences in the Study of Organization and Socio-Technical Change Företagsekonomiska institutionen Department of Business Studies A Practice Theory in Practice Analytical Consequences in the Study of Organization and Socio-Technical Change Inti José Lammi Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Hörsal 2, Ekonomikum, Kyrkogårdsgatan 10A, Uppsala, Monday, 21 May 2018 at 13:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Professor Anders Buch (Aalborg University). Abstract Lammi, I. J. 2018. A Practice Theory in Practice. Analytical Consequences in the Study of Organization and Socio-Technical Change. Doctoral thesis / Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Uppsala universitet 190. 277 pp. Uppsala: Företagsekonomiska institutionen, Uppsala universitet. ISBN 978-91-506-2688-9. Appealing calls are often made towards the study of phenomena through so-called practice theory. However, the implications of the use of practice theory, if taken seriously in analysis, are rarely discussed. The chief concern of this thesis is the applicability of the most radical dimensions of practice theory. By drawing from the key proponent of contemporary practice theory, Theodore Schatzki, this thesis assesses how practice theory can inform empirical analysis and what it can offer organizational studies in particular. Defining practice theory as an interpretative lens, this thesis proposes a methodology for the study of practices that finds organization in two senses, within practices and between them. Putting such a proposition to the test, a study of socio-technical change at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency is utilized as an illustration of the use of practice theory and how empirical issues tread forth in analysis. The illustration shows how classical organizational issues are re-imagined by proposing an alternate kind of context; practice as context. Not solely a descriptive effort to grasp what people do, the study presents how doing is explicable by examining the multiple contexts of organizational life. Having defined practices as unfolding phenomena, the practice analysis also presents a moderately processual analysis fitting for the study of material re-arrangement and the re-organization of practices. The distinctiveness of the practice analysis, and the interpretative work it demands, is further demonstrated by comparison with established ways of analyzing activity and organizational phenomena, including such approaches that imagine organizations as cohesive wholes and those that study organizing. This thesis offers an approach for those who want to undertake empirical research using practice theory, demonstrating its unique possibilities. Such an approach is of interest for those who want to heed calls to attend to the practicalities and materiality of organizations. Keywords: practice theory, organization, organizing, work, technology, materiality, socio- technical change, methodology, qualitative research, site ontology, public administration Inti José Lammi, Department of Business Studies, Box 513, Uppsala University, SE-75120 Uppsala, Sweden. © Inti José Lammi 2018 ISSN 1103-8454 ISBN 978-91-506-2688-9 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-347056 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-347056) Para mi abuelo, Hernán. Acknowledgements As I began this process, I was told that the task of writing a thesis was a lonely endeavor. In many ways this proved to be true. After all, as the sole author, you are responsible for whatever is written and there have been plenty of moments of solitude in both reading and writing the work itself. However, I had not at that point imagined the many moments that could make you realize that you were not alone at all. You spend time reading the work of others, imagining their relevance in your own work; you participate in seminars where drafts are presented and critiqued; if you undertake any form of empirical qualitative work, you meet informants and they get to privilege you with their presence in your text; you receive emotional support from others as you face moments of confusion and exhaustion along the way, and so on. Related to this is the wonder that people manage to bear with an author during the process of writing at all, and in my case also bear with my ramblings and incessant tendency to derail conversations to revolve around the topics of my readings and my own writing. It is after the process is over with that I understand how significant these moments of company truly have been. Of course, much of this lies outside of the text, or so it might seem for a reader. I will take the space here to make sure that my gratitude towards those who have indirectly contributed to this effort are noted in this text, explicitly. I have here tried to mention those who have contributed to this effort most notably. This includes those who have contributed with ideas that I have tried to fit in here; others who have challenged some of my half-baked thoughts to help me see more clearly; and yet another group that has given me the support I have needed to finish this work. Many others not named matter too, of course, and I hope you do not take my lack of mention here as indicative of something else. I begin by extending my gratitude to my supervisors Jukka Hohenthal and Leon Caesarius for both having enabled me to take on this effort and for their patience with my scribbles and messy drafts over the years. Few have seen the messiness of this process of mine more than you who have both challenged and supported me. Next, I must thank my informants at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency for contributing to the empirical part of this thesis. Having met with you I have gained nothing but the utmost respect for the work that you do. I also want extend my gratitude to Anette Hallin who gave me many insightful comments that greatly improved this text and made me learn a great deal more. You were a great discussant and I greatly enjoyed our seminar. During my studies, I had the great privilege to both meet and test some of my ideas with Theodore Schatzki, a name a reader will get acquainted with shortly. He was not only more insightful in person than I had imagined but also incredibly patient despite my silly questions. I also owe him a beer! I want to extend my thanks to the insightful scholars that I have had the chance to meet and interact with, not the least at my department and through my doctoral research school (Management and IT). Among these, I must mention Fredrik Sjöstrand, Anders Forssell, Lars Fälting, and Olle Jansson. As a fledgling academic, you have been instructive in matters ranging from academic virtues to the role as a teacher. I want to also extend my thanks to senior scholars who have come in contact with my work and have discussed and challenged it: Einar Iveroth, Lars Frimansson, Christina Keller, Jan Lindvall and Stefan Jonsson. Moreover, I cannot forget the help of our administrators at the department: Elisabeth Hallmén and Annica Björk. I would have been completely lost without your help in all of the technicalities of ordering books, getting course credits, getting reimbursed for trips and so on. Thank you! Next, I want to mention those I rank among my friends during these last few years. These include my colleagues at the department who have been there during large parts of my process and who have contributed in varying ways: Siavash Alimadadi, Maria Rudhult, Emilia Kvarnström, Niklas Bomark, and Derya Vural. To be able to discuss both parts of my thesis and the steps of finalizing it has been helpful in numerous ways. Not the least, it has been inspiring to see fellow thesis writers finish, or be in the process of finishing, their own work. As colleagues of sorts I also include a group of friends outside of my research environment who have been impactful on my intellectual development during these years: Nicklas Neuman, Marcus Österman, Henric Häggqvist, Claire Ingram Bogusz, Phil Creswell, María Langa, Marie Sepulchre, Jonas Bååth and Alexander Dobeson. Our discussions have been important opportunities to expand my own knowledge about things far beyond those I initially set out to understand. I have been particularly grateful for the multiple perspectives that I have come in contact with through your acquaintance – which I am sure have enriched this work – as well as your friendship. Finally, I want to thank those closest to me in life who in many ways provided a source of respite from my work. My childhood friends Oskar and Emil, thank you for your friendship! My cousins who I see as my siblings, especially Tupac and Victor, have also been there for me during these years. I am, of course, generally grateful to my family. My aunts, especially Laura, my uncles, my father Reijo, my mother Babi, and my grandfather Hernán who have believed in me and supported me. I would never have made it without you. You have given me the very means to accomplish this piece of work, as I am sure you know. I must also thank my cats, who have been great company during much of this process: Nuffe, Skräcklis and Busen. Finally, I must thank Janina. Especially you, Janina, have been patient in all this and have had to endure most of it all. I love you. Abbreviations SP Social Practice, Schatzki, T. (1996) SS The Site of the Social, Schatzki, T. (2002) TS Timespace of the Social, Schatzki, T. (2010a) BT Being and Time / Heidegger, M. ([1927]1962) PI Philosophical Investigations / Wittgenstein, L. (1958) OC On Certainty / Wittgenstein, L. (1975) SSIA Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) ANT Actor-network theory Contents Acknowledgements Abbreviations PART I SETTING THE STAGE ............................................................... 1 1. Opening ............................................................................................. 3 1.1. The vagueness of the notion of practice .................................
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