Starting Points for a Relational Approach to Organizational Theory: An Overview

Abstract

Classic organizational theories build on substantialist assumptions and grant ontological status to organizations. Relational theorizing provides germinal resources for an epistemological breakthrough in how we come to understand organizations and organizing. This paper, based on my 2018 book ‘Beyond leadership: A relational approach to organizational theory in education’, serves two purposes. First, it provides an overview of the relational research program – both the methodological framing and the three key intellectual resources of ‘organizing activity’, ‘auctor’, and ‘spatio-temporal conditions’. Second, it serves as the stimulus paper for the contributors to this Special Issue dedicated to dialogue and debate on the potential contribution of the relational research program to the field of educational administration and leadership