Towards Power in Contradictory Institutional Logics and Organizational Fields

Abstract

This paper attempts to respond to recent calls for the need for a critical outlook of power in institutional theory. While critical theory has several strands and provides a vast scope for bridging and borrowing, of notable relevance for institutional theory among the various strands of critical theory are Foucault and Bourdieu, as also pointed out in recent calls. Foucault’s widely known power-knowledge perspective and Bourdieu’s widely used concept of fields, capital and habitus are particularly useful to inform the gaps of power in institutional logics and organizational fields. I draw from Foucauldian power-knowledge perspective to show how it can unravel the contradictory nature of institutional logics and I draw from Bourdieu to show how his concepts of field, capital and habitus have or have not been used, and how they can be used to understand the interplay of contradictory institutional logics in hierarchically structured organizational fields. I do this by firstly giving a background of why critical theory is useful to inform the gaps of power in institutional theory based on recent calls and then proceed to focus on the concepts of Foucault and Bourdieu to inform institutional logics and organizational fields around power. Thus, in this paper, I broadly aim to contribute to the 'critical' gaps in institutional theory by borrowing from critical theory.