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Knowledge system diagnostics: applying Foucault's archaeological framework to organizations
Author(s) -
Topp Warren
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
systems research and behavioral science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1099-1743
pISSN - 1092-7026
DOI - 10.1002/1099-1743(200007/08)17:4<365::aid-sres309>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - articulation (sociology) , subject (documents) , epistemology , sociology , michel foucault , matrix (chemical analysis) , computer science , knowledge management , philosophy , political science , law , politics , materials science , library science , composite material
In this paper I describe a diagnostic framework appropriated from Michel Foucault's (1972) The Archaeology of Knowledge . The inquiry framework aims to uncover an organization's ‘rules of formation’. These rules make possible the creation and maintenance of knowledge within an organization. Foucault (1972) approaches knowledge from a position which sees discourse (a group of statements) as having regularities and patterns which enable or constrain the emergence of new ideas and concepts. His view is radically different from the subject‐centred approach which focuses on the individual creative mind as the source of new concepts and knowledge. In this approach the subject occupies certain positions within a matrix of rules which enable the articulation of statements. This knowledge matrix contains the rules of formation of objects, concepts, strategies, and positions from which subjects take part in a discourse. Appropriating Foucault's approach allows us to view organizational change as a shift in the knowledge matrix rather than the shifting of minds. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.