Matter and Method: The Quest for a New-Materialist Methodology in Management Studies

This paper offers methodological and theoretical contributions to the field of management at the so-called 'turn to matter' postulated within new materialist perspectives. It discusses more-than-human perspectives in management research and provides some methodological directions to support new materialist empirical investigations. Theoretically grounded on new materialism and posthumanism, the paper applies the assemblage approach that focuses on understanding the redistribution of agency to the network of people, things and discourses. In developing three exemplars of assemblages, it shows how it is possible to methodologically encompass the entanglement of the material, the organic, the human and the more-than-human to explore a phenomenon such as working from home. The paper concludes by reflecting on what new materialist qualitative research in management could become in order to generate new ways of imagining management, organizations and working lives, as more-than-human entanglements.

Automated summary

This paper contributes methodologically and theoretically to the field of management by exploring the 'turn to matter' within new materialist perspectives. It discusses the inclusion of more-than-human perspectives in management research and provides methodological directions for empirical investigations. The paper uses the assemblage approach to understand the redistribution of agency within networks of people, things, and discourses. Through three exemplars of assemblages, it demonstrates how to methodologically investigate the entanglement of various factors to explore phenomena such as working from home. The paper concludes by reflecting on the potential of new materialist qualitative research in management to imagine new ways of understanding management, organizations, and working lives from a more-than-human perspective.