Exploring the Practice Rationality, Strategy as Practice, and Epistemologies of the South: Towards Wider Strategic Research

• Published in: Philosophy of management 2023-06, Vol.22 (2), p.227-245
• Main Authors: da Costa Júnior, Júlio César, Nascimento, Leandro da Silva, Jerônimo, Taciana de Barros, Granja, Brunna Carvalho Almeida
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Business and Management; Developing countries; Education; Epistemology; International Political Economy; Knowledge; LDCs; Ontology; Philosophy; Quality of Life Research; Rationality; Social justice; Social sciences; Society; Sociology; Strategic management
• ISSN: 1740-3812; 2052-9597
• DOI: 10.1007/s40926-022-00222-3

We propose a special look at new epistemological possibilities in constructing knowledge to fill the gap between theory development and its practical and societal applications. We turn our attention to the strategy field of studies, which is traditionally positivist, but that also accommodates some timid attempts to produce content from other onto-epistemological bases, such as strategy as practice. Then, we explore the possible interchange between strategy as practice and the Epistemologies of the South. Once strategy as practice is based on practice rationality, which conceives social life as continuous production, it allows considering a wider diversity of social experiences surrounding strategic management. Likewise, the Epistemologies of the South represent a processual approach, which considers the social realities of developing countries and allows the inclusion of marginalized voices in social sciences' theorizing movements. We develop a conceptual-methodological guide for researchers to reflect on the possible ways to systematically rescue pieces of many social experiences forgotten by normal science, promoting cognitive and social justice in research, especially in the strategy field. Our proposal is a reflection about exploring what is not done, what is not practiced and make possible to expand the universe of social experiences considered for analysis in organizational and management studies. In doing so, we call the attention of scholars to start a paradigm shift from marginalization to the inclusion of multiple social realities toward cognitive and social democracy in research.