ISD Discourses and the Emancipation of Meaning

Abstract

In this paper I’d like to expose the view of Information Systems Development (ISD) processes as discursive practices, the view that puts the politics of meaning making and interpretation at centre stage. Such a view aims to assist deconstruction of discursive regimes instituted by ISD processes and methodologies, the production of representations and legitimation of meaning (through business process models, information requirements specifications, databases, knowledge bases, procedures, rules, etc.) within a particular social, political and economic context and power relations. To achieve this aim I will propose a discursive framework for examining ISD that highlights particular distinctions among ISD processes as organisational discourses: on one hand, ISD are seen as sites of domination, hegemonic consent, and colonisation of meaning, and on the other, as sites of dissensus discourses, multiple value and interest positions, and the struggle for democratic change and emancipation of meaning. By drawing from three published examples of ISD research, I will illustrate the nature of these distinctions and the type of analysis enabled by the proposed discursive ISD framework and will also demonstrate the relevance of new insights thus gained.