Paradigm Wars: Ceasefire Announced who Will set up the New Administration?†

Abstract

This paper presents a personal overview of the history of the IS discipline over the last 20 years. It highlights two particular strands of development over which there has been much controversy - the so-called paradigm wars which were an epistemological battle between positivism and interpretivism; and the related debate over a critical approach to information systems. It is argued that the battle has died down and a period of stability has emerged. But further development needs to occur, especially in the area of critical management, and the philosophy of critical realism can be a significant way forward.