Habitus, doxa, and saga: applications of Bourdieu's theory of practice to organizational history

摘要

Using the concept of 'organizational saga' as a guide, this article presents Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice as an analytical tool capable of advancing insights into organizational behavior and related social phenomena. Responding to the question of what makes an organization's inherently historical saga'knowable', illustrated are conceptual and methodological considerations derived from key concepts in Bourdieusian social theory, namely habitus and doxa, that offer lenses with which organizational culture, identity, and belief can be more thoughtfully engaged. Expanding the theoretical scope beyond saga, recent contributions to management and organizational history are presented throughout as topical and methodological frameworks for future analytical application of habitus, doxa and other concepts. As such, it is argued that Bourdieu can reformulate or uncover knowledge of specific case studies in management and organizational history, as well as reexamine theories of history and institutional cultures.