Dear Colleagues,

I would be interested to know if you are going to attend this conference
next year.  

Best wishes,
Carole Brooke

Professor Carole Brooke,
Lincoln Business School,
University of Lincoln,
Lincoln  LN6 7TS
United Kingdom

+44 (0) 1522 886342

Details of the stream at Warwick follow..............

What's critical about information systems?
Stream at 6th Critical Management Studies Conference, University of
Warwick, UK, July 13-15, 2009
Call for papers

The word 'critical' is often used in mainstream accounts of information
systems activity as in phrases like 'critical success factors'. By
contrast, we seek papers which explore the ways in which IS are
inextricably linked with contested practices of organizing in
contemporary work organizations. We seek critique of such relationships
in both practice and theory. We are looking for papers which shed new
light on the ways in which IS are deployed to maintain and foster
practices which contribute to inequality and discrimination and ways in
which they might be used to pose alternatives. 

IS has been a relatively neglected area in CMS in the past. Accordingly,
we seek papers which address one of the following two broad themes, in
the hope that this will build a new and more productive engagement
between critical scholars. The two main themes we hope to address are:

1. The relationship between IS and CMS. 

In some quarters the view from CMS is of IS as a 'quantitative'
discipline, to be equated with accounting and operations research. This
is not necessarily a helpful or productive categorisation. It is called
into question by, in particular, the interest in organizational learning
and knowing, which has engendered some valuable critical work. We seek
papers which explore the nature of IS as a domain of study. Papers might
address basic terms, such as how best to conceptualise 'technology' and
'systems' in a way which is productive for the furthering of a broadly
critical agenda. This might be conceived of in the following ways:


*	 What can IS learn from CMS?

A wide range of perspectives have been deployed in analyses inspired by
a broadly critical approach. Are any of these of particular value when
looking at IS and why? How can such perspectives be deployed to give
purchase in concrete analysis? Can the field of IS or any of its
constituent discourses (e.g. on methodology, paradigms, rigour vs.
relevance) be usefully subjected to concepts or analyses drawn from CMS?

*	What can CMS learn from IS?

Some approaches, notably those drawn from actor-network theory, have
been more developed in critical work in IS. What lessons does such
application have for CMS more generally? A broad criticism of much of
the work in the domain of organizational learning from a critical
perspective is that it fails to be specific about technology. What are
the consequences of such failure and how can work in critical IS
research redress such problems?

2. IS and organizations: critical insights

Under this heading we seek papers which are primarily empirical in
focus. Such papers will consider concrete instances of the deployment of
IS in organizations and their impact on existing structures of power.
Such papers might consider (but are not limited to:

*	The relationship between IS and forms of organizational
structure. Are claims for flatter hierarchies base on the deployment of
advanced IS justified and what is the nature of such changes?

*	The impact of IS on forms of organizational knowing. This might
consider the privileging of particular forms of knowing, their
inscription into particular forms of technology and the consequences for
power relations.

*	The impact of IS on changing patterns of inter-organizational
relations. This might consider, for example, forms of outsourcing and
offshoring and their impacts, whether these be on particular
organizations, on the balance of power within an organizational field or
on national economies.



We seek papers which address these themes, either singly or in
combination and either theoretically or empirically. Abstracts should be
submitted to the lead convenor by 1 November 2008, although inquiries
can be addressed to any member of the convening team. Abstracts should
be a maximum of 1000 words and submitted in single spaced, 12 point font
on a layout set to A4 to allow for subsequent reproduction. We will aim
to have acceptance decisions by the end of December 2008. 

Convenors

Alistair Mutch, Nottingham Trent University, UK (lead convenor)
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Dubravka Cecez-Kecmanovic, University of New South Wales, Australia
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Francois de Vaujany, Grenoble University, France
[log in to unmask] Anita Greenhill, University of Manchester, UK
[log in to unmask] Donald Hislop, Loughborough University, UK
[log in to unmask] Bernd Stahl, De Montfort University, UK
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