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Deconstruction Revisited

Implications of Theory Over Methodology

American University, Washington, DC

Throughout the early 1990s, theoretical works in management studies citing the influence of the philosophy of Jacques Derrida were finding publication in some of the major North American academic business journals. But just as this sort of theoretical work began to appear more regularly, it quickly disappeared. This article proposes that business academics need to read Derrida primarily as an ethical theorist. By going deeper into his work, researchers must give up on the tendency to take from Derrida's philosophy something that Derrida claimed cannot exist: a deconstructive methodology. Instead, researchers will find a new and vital philosophical approach that brings questions of ethics and responsibility to the forefront of management thought. To illustrate the theoretical potential in revisiting Derrida, this article engages in a critical analysis of stakeholder theory and transaction cost economics to see what new insights the philosophy of Derrida might yield for management researchers who give deconstruction a second chance.

Key Words: deconstruction • postmodernism • ethics • management

Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 16, No. 1, 43-54 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1056492606294523


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