Modernism, Post Modernism and Organizational Analysis 3: The Contribution of Jacques Derrida

Abstract

This paper, the third in a series on the relevance of the modernist-post modernist debate to organizational analysis (Cooper and Burrell 1988, Burrell 1988), examines the work of Jacques Derrida. Specifically, Derrida's work is viewed as a contribution to the analysis of process (as opposed to structure) in social systems. In this context, three interrelated themes of his work - deconstruction, writing, 'difference' — are described in some detail and their implications explored for social and organizational analysis. Derrida's account of the logic of writing shows it to be fundamental to the division of labour and therefore to significant dimensions (complexity, formalization) of formal organization. Since 'organization theuries' are themselves products of writing and the division of labour, their essential function is to explain and justify the structures they represent, they are therefore more concerned with maintaining their own consistency and the stability of the organized world they describe rather than critical understanding. This point is illustrated by a detailed deconstruction of two major approaches to the study of bureaucracy (the 'formalist' and 'expertise' models) in organization theory. Finally, it is suggested that the affinity between the logic of writing and the division of labour underlies Michel Foucault's concept of knowledge-power and the development of areas of professionalized knowledge such as accountancy.