Understanding Communities of Practice: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

Abstract

More than thirty years after Lave and Wenger’s Situated Learning: legitimate peripheral participation (1991), the concepts of communities of practice and situated learning are widely used by academics and practitioners. In this symposium, we aim to revisit the past developments around CoP and situated learning and offer insights for future research. We will a) take stock of the use of the concept of CoP in management and organization studies since its introduction in 1991 and examine whether the concept is still relevant in the current historical conditions (Davide Nicolini and Paul Duguid) b) examine how the concept can be further expanded and elaborated (Etienne and Beverley Wenger-Trayner) and c) Examine new research opportunities that could arise from a dialogue between the study of COPs and future of work.