Materiality and Organizing

Abstract

This entry presents the current state of the art in studies of materiality and organizing from an organizational communication view. Starting with a brief historical background of the study of materiality in social science, the entry sketches out the trajectory of this area of research in organizational communication studies. A general definition of materiality considers both “matter” and “mattering,” which derives from the explanation of two lines of scholarship: the performativity of matter (its consequences for organizing) and the double (social and material) dimensions of organizing. The central part of this entry describes four influential approaches to materiality and organizing in organizational communication studies: sociomateriality, communicative constitution of organization approach, practice based studies, and critical approaches. Based on these approaches, the entry discusses three types of materials (objects, spaces, and bodies) that have been studied in organizational communication and reflects on some theoretical implications. Finally, the main critiques addressed to the so‐called material turn in organizational communication are presented, and futures directions are outlined.