Organization, Trust and Control: A Realist Analysis

Abstract

This paper develops a critical realist analysis of trust/control relations within and between complex organizations. It suggests that trust/control relations are most usefully seen as structures of interrelated `positioned-practices' which generate, shape and constrain the development of contrasting forms of expert power in a range of organizational contexts. The paper opens with a general overview of a number of currently influential theoretical perspectives on trust/control relations in social and organizational analysis. It then proceeds to advance a critical realist analysis of trust/control relations as generative mechanisms that govern, but do not determine, the production, reproduction and transformation of expert power. The explanatory significance of this realist analysis is illustrated by reference to a limited number of historical and institutional case studies on expert technologies and practices