Habermas and information systems research: New directions

被引:14
|
作者
Ross, Alain [1 ]
Chiasson, Mike [2 ]
机构
[1] Athabasca Univ, Athabasca, AB T9S 3A3, Canada
[2] Univ Lancaster, Sch Management, Lancaster LA1 4YX, England
关键词
CRITICAL SOCIAL-THEORY; SPECIFICATION; MANAGEMENT; DESIGN;
D O I
10.1016/j.infoandorg.2011.06.001
中图分类号
G25 [图书馆学、图书馆事业]; G35 [情报学、情报工作];
学科分类号
1205 ; 120501 ;
摘要
Habermas' critical social theory has proven to be an important and useful lens in information systems research, especially in understanding the communicative potential of information systems and in conceiving alternative approaches to information systems development. As communication and engagement have become increasingly important in the context of today's information systems, his work has perhaps even greater applicability. However, concerns that it is too utopian to apply in organizational settings have led to skepticism regarding Habermas' work. Participation by all, the "ideal speech situation" and the consensus ideal are each Habermasian requirements that have sparked this criticism. However, Habermas' work has continued to grow and evolve since the Theory of Communicative Action, the basis of much IS research drawing on his work. His contributions in discourse ethics (1990, 1993) and deliberative democracy (1998) have offered us new and important theory, and have brought to light Habermas' own clarification and evolution of his original ideas. The intent of this paper is to reopen a communicative dialog about Habermas' work. After summarizing his critical social theory, we turn to addressing our two main objectives: first, to demonstrate that evolutions in Habermasian thought have renewed its empirical possibilities and, second, to show that this new understanding constructively informs future IS research. As an illustration, we sketch out the conditions for a Habermasian-inspired requirements process and show their application to a well-studied IS development model, ETHICS (Mumford, 1983). We conclude by suggesting that Habermas' theoretical ideas can no longer be dismissed as naive, but as a constant guide to critical action as a reference point for opening up new possibilities for communicative action in IS research and activity. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:123 / 141
页数:19
相关论文
共 50 条
  • [1] Interactive DataVisualization: New Directions for Accounting Information Systems Research
    Dilla, William
    Janvrin, Diane J.
    Raschke, Robyn
    [J]. JOURNAL OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS, 2010, 24 (02) : 1 - 37
  • [2] CURRENT RESEARCH DIRECTIONS IN INFORMATION-SYSTEMS
    JEFFERY, DR
    LAWRENCE, MJ
    [J]. AUSTRALIAN COMPUTER JOURNAL, 1986, 18 (04): : 157 - 158
  • [3] RESEARCH DIRECTIONS IN INFORMATION-SYSTEMS SECURITY
    BASKERVILLE, R
    [J]. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, 1994, 14 (05) : 385 - 387
  • [4] Directions in information systems development: Integrating new technologies, research approaches, and development practices
    Russo, NL
    Fitzgerald, B
    [J]. REALIGNING RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT: THE SOCIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE, 2001, 66 : 1 - 8
  • [5] CANADIAN TRADITIONS AND DIRECTIONS IN INFORMATION-SYSTEMS RESEARCH
    GRANT, R
    KOOP, R
    [J]. REVUE CANADIENNE DES SCIENCES DE L ADMINISTRATION-CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES, 1995, 12 (01): : 38 - 55
  • [6] Research directions in information systems: Toward an institutional ecology
    Ramiller, Neil C.
    Swanson, E. Burton
    Wang, Ping
    [J]. JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS, 2008, 9 (01): : 1 - 22
  • [7] New directions in research on parental belief systems
    Goodnow, JJ
    Grusec, JE
    [J]. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 1996, 31 (3-4) : 1110 - 1110
  • [8] Information systems for small businesses: A survey and future research directions
    Hsu, LY
    Lo, WA
    [J]. DECISION SCIENCES INSTITUTE, 1997 ANNUAL MEETING, PROCEEDINGS, VOLS 1-3, 1997, : 568 - 570
  • [10] ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH: REVIEW, SYNTHESIS, AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
    Roberts, Nicholas
    Galluch, Pamela S.
    Dinger, Michael
    Grover, Varun
    [J]. MIS QUARTERLY, 2012, 36 (02) : 625 - 648