CALL FOR PAPERS ON PRAGMATIC CONSTRUCTIVISM AND CONSTRUCTION OF ORGANISED REALITY
Theme: Language Games and Expanding Horizons in Pragmatic Constructivism
The purpose of the conferences on actor-reality construction is to exchange research ideas and contributions to gain deep insights into the problems and possibilities of constructing social human practices. We aim to strengthen the output of research articles and books while fostering meaningful dialogue among researchers.
We welcome submissions on any topic that provides insights into the methods and techniques for constructing (dys-)functional practices. Building on the success of previous conferences, the 2025 edition will continue to explore the role of specialised language games in various professional, organisational, inter-organisational, and societal contexts (e.g., accounting, management, marketing, and strategy). Alongside this, we aim to examine how language games can be integrated with other dimensions of pragmatic constructivism to address challenging and complex issues in contemporary organisational realities.
In pragmatic constructivism, language games refer to how individuals construct and organise their everyday practices using language as a set of narrations. These narrations blend with other forms of action to form everyday reality. The language constructions developed in these practices must integrate the four dimensions of reality—facts, possibilities, values, and communication—to function pragmatically, i.e. to foster intentional organisational outcomes. Organisations operate through interconnected specialised language games that must function cohesively. The conference will provide insights into fostering cooperation among multiple coexisting specialised language games.
Emerging areas of interest include the ethical implications of organisational realities and the promotion of sustainable and human-centric practices. Topics in this area may include ethical leadership fostering sustainable organisational cultures, the role of intellectual virtues in decision-making, and fostering creativity and relational harmony in collaborative or multi-organisational contexts. A matter of high urgency is the development of accounting information for decision-making and accountability that supports achieving the values of flourishing human beings, organisations, social communities and nature. Achieving this vision requires meaningful measurements of how the value of the good life has improved or deteriorated and the sustainability of the conditions for such a life as well as measuring the financial results of the real economy.
The conference will also continue discussions on the impact of digitalisation and AI languages on the construction and management of specialised practices. Submissions could explore how these technologies shape or redefine organisational realities and influence decision-making.
Finally, the conference will serve as a platform for discussing innovative research methodologies for studying language games and meta-language games in shaping organisational and institutional practices. We are particularly interested in distinctions between language game, language gaming, and language play. Language play, in particular, has significant implications for constructing (dys-)functional organisational practices in emerging contexts. These issues are especially relevant given the current economic, social, and environmental crises and the organisational responses aimed at creating resilient practices.
The possible subject areas of the desired submissions include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Language games of performance management and accounting in professionally driven public sector activities, various business sectors, consultancy and firm-advisor relations, user participation facilitated by digital platforms, NPD projects, entrepreneurial ventures, learning platforms, inter-organisational relations, and more.
- Language games of possibilities, including ethics, democracy, digitalisation, gender balance, organisational cooperation, organisational learning, corporate social responsibility, and meta-theories.
- Language games of performance measurement and the creation of sustainability.
- Language games and language plays of (good) accountants in constructing sustainable activities, relationships, and projects.
- Language games and language plays for constructing (dys-)functional practices to tackle social, environmental, and economic challenges.
- Sustainability and ethics in organisational practices encompass exploring how pragmatic constructivism can facilitate ethical, sustainable, and human-centric practices. It also includes exploring ways to embed ethical decision-making in public sector performance management to effectively address global sustainability challenges.
- Multi-contextual practices where language games and pragmatic constructivism dimensions foster collaboration in inter-organisational settings or unify diverse cultural and operational contexts.
- Methodological innovations include novel methodologies for exploring language games and actor-reality construction.
- Language games on “what to do?” involving questions such as how pragmatic constructivism can impact business practices, eventually in competition with established “Business Schools”, consultants, etc..
The conference invites three categories of contributions: i) Full papers, ii) Abstracts and iii) PhD-projects. There will be enough time for in-depth discussions and reflections among the participants, who will hopefully further develop their thoughts and paper writing.
| About pragmatic constructivism and actor-reality construction
Pragmatic constructivism conceives reality as a complex set of constructs created by the actors in interaction with their environment. Interacting with others and ‘things’ in the world through language and actions, actors produce common reality constructs, which are the basis of practice. Pragmatic constructivism offers some conceptual fundamentals for understanding and analysing how actors construct a successful actor-world relationship in a dynamic environment. In particular, the following are considered to be conceptual fundamentals: practice constructed through actorship, language games and co-authorship; four dimensions of reality – facts, possibilities, values, and communication – must be integrated in the actor-world relation if the construct is to form a successful basis for effective actions, organisational learning, and an integrative learning theory of truth involving a learning circle between proactive truth and pragmatic truth. The previous conferences have produced various theoretical and empirical contributions within different academic fields. |
| Date: 11-12 SEPTEMBER 2025
Place: Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, England UK Submission and registration to: You can also register for participation through here Deadline for submissions: 20 July 2025 Deadline for registration: 15 August 2025 Fee: €180
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Organizing committee:
– Gudrun Baldvinsdottir, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. – Trond Bjørnenak, NHH, Norway – Lino Cinquini, Scuola Superiore Sant’ Anna, Italy – Lisa Jack, University of Portsmouth, UK – Morten Jakobsen, Aarhus University, Denmark – Teemu Laine, Tampere University, Finland – Hanne Nørreklit, Aarhus University, Denmark, and Scuola Superiore Sant’ Anna, Italy – Pinar Guven Uslu, University of East Anglia, UK – Welington Carneiro, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil |
Accommodation
Accommodation can be purchased separately at local hotels and is offered at a discounted rate when booking directly with the hotel. To check availability and purchase, please see the accommodation options below and quote UEA ‘Actor Reality Conference’. All rooms are subject to availability between 10th – 12th September. Please note that the off campus accommodation would require a bus or a taxi journey to arrive to the conference venue.
Broadview Hotel Visitor Accommodation on campus and easiest option to reach to conference venue
The Georgian Townhouse | Rooms 2.5 miles to campus
The George Hotel – An independent business in the heart of East Anglia, 2.8 miles to campus
Please check at below link, if you require an ETA before you travel to the UK
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-get-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta