Practice Theory, Work, and Organization

Davide Nicolini is Professor of Organization Studies at Warwick Business School. He co-directs the IKON Research Centre at Warwick Business School and the Warwick Institute of Health. Prior to joining the University of Warwick he held positions at The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London and the University of Trento and Bergamo in Italy. His work has appeared in journals such as Organization Science, Organization Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Management Learning, and Social Science and Medicine. From 2009 he has been Editor of Management Learning.

The book is an extremely impressive accomplishment in terms of clarification of a body of heavy weight theoretical work. By not glossing over differences in an effort to produce a synthesis, a degree of clarity is give the multivocality of practise theory. As a result, the book provides a lucid guide through the philosophical landscape.

• 1. Introduction ; 2. Praxis and Practice Theory: A Brief Historical Overview ; 3. Praxeology and the Work of Giddens and Bourdieu ; 4. Practice as Tradition and Community ; 5. Practice as Activity ; 6. Practice as Accomplishment ; 7. Practice as the House of the Social: Contemporary Developments of the Heideggerian and Wittgensteinian Traditions ; 8. Discourse and Practice ; 9. Bringing it All Together: a Toolkit to Study and Represent Practice at Work