O Alinhamento entre a Teoria Ator-Rede e a Sociologia Relacional: uma Discussão Onto-Epistemológica para os Estudos Organizacionais

Abstract

We aim to explore in this paper the alignment between relational sociology and actor-network theory and the possible repercussions of this alignment to organizational studies. Therefore, the main authors of each approach were reviewed, and their ontological, epistemological and methodological positioning were highlighted. In addition, we adopted the structure of sociological paradigms' classification to discuss the alignment between these approaches, revealing the convergences and divergences between them. We also explored how the approximation between these sociological lenses could help the organizational studies field (i) rethinking the very notion of organization, (ii) re-conceptualizing organizational processes, (iii) rethinking the agency issue in the organizational process. Finally, research opportunities were presented, which embraces the inclusion of time in the theoretical explanations of the area, giving voice to the materiality and to nonhuman elements in its observations and to get closer of people's social experiences looking for explanations that resonate organizations' realities.