Practical and Emancipatory Interests in Organizational Symbolism: A Review and Evaluation

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to review and evaluate the contribution of the study of organizational symbolism to the larger study of organization. We adopt Habermas' (1971) epistemological framework for the paper. This framework describes knowledge creation in the service of three key human interests: the technical, the practical, and the emancipatory. The literature on organizational symbolism is evaluated in the light of the framework. The following questions are addressed: What is the potential of the study of organizations oriented by symbolism with respect to these interests, especially the practical and emancipatory? How successfully has any such potential been realized in inquiry to date? What might account for organizational researchers' degree of success/failure? How might the potential be achieved more fully?