Postmodernism and Criticality in Information Systems Research

Abstract

This article identifies a gap in the inclusion of the postmodern concept in critical information systems (IS) research. Starting from the three critical tasks, insight, critique, and transformative definition, we argue that the second task of critique has been less commonly addressed. Filling that gap can begin by exploring how critical management studies have used both critical theory and postmodernism. The authors draw on Alvesson and Deetz’s (1996) argumentation that these two bodies of literature can complement each other and cohabit. There is no need for a unitary critical position, but there is currently an imbalance in critical IS research, as Habermassian approaches have remained untouched by a poststructuralist critique. Postmodern approaches are more cautious on transformative definition, and they are well suited to the task of critique. They have also been applied to examine modernist themes such as performativity and managerialism, which relate to underresearched and undercritiqued modernist concepts in IS.