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Introduction
This special issue invites papers that use practice theory approaches for two purposes: to examine the digitalization of work(places) and to offer fresh perspectives on the existing methodological repertoire in organizational and workplace ethnography.
Practice theory, with its emphasis on the embodied, relational, and materially accomplished nature of activities (Schatzki et al., 1997; Reckwitz 2002; Hui et al. 2016), provides a powerful lens for understanding the lived experience of digital work(places) by highlighting the implicit norms, rules, and material arrangements that shape and sustain organizational life (Heath et al., 2000; Luff et al., 2000; Shove et al. 2012; Laube, 2017; Schönian, 2022). Research in Science and Technology Studies (STS) has utilized practice theory to explore phenomena such as ‘sociomaterial entanglement’ (Orlikowski, 2007), ‘synthetic situations’ (Knorr Cetina, 2009) and the performative aspects of digital technologies in everyday work (Latour, 2005; Law, 2009). Ethnographic studies have further developed methodological frameworks, for example “following” (Bruni, 2005) “shadowing” (Czarniawska, 2007) or “digital walkthrough” (Light et al., 2018) to trace the interplay between human and non-human actors in digital work(places), offering new insights into how digital work(place) environments shape organizational processes. Additionally, researchers have recently started to use practice theory as a tool to reflect on and enhance ethnographic methodologies (Ploder and Hamann, 2021).
We seek submissions grounded in ethnographic fieldwork that utilize practice theory to explore the digitalization of work(places). Papers should engage with practice theory concepts, demonstrating how they can be applied to understand the digitalization of work(places) and/or address the methodological challenges and opportunities of studying digital work(places). This includes contributions that reflect on the tension between traditional and digital approaches of ‘being there’ in ethnographic fieldwork, exploring how ethnographers navigate this tension – whether through nostalgia, denial, or experimenting with AI-based tools.
List of topic areas
Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following topic areas and questions:
- Materiality and embodiment of digital work:
- How can practice theory capture the materiality of digital work?
- How do digital technologies, virtual spaces, and embodied practices co-constitute each other in digital work(places)?
- Reconfiguring management practices:
- How does practice theory help us understand emerging phenomena like algorithmic management, AI-driven decision-making, and cybersecurity practices?
- What are the everyday, embodied practices that underpin these seemingly abstract technologies?
- Methodological challenges:
- What are the methodological challenges and opportunities of conducting ethnographic research on digital work, particularly in terms of access, visibility of practices, and data collection in virtual or hybrid environments?
- How can ideas from the long-standing methodological debate on virtual/digital ethnography be further developed with the help of practice theories?
- How do AI-driven chatbots such as ChatGPT change and challenge the epistemic practices of ethnographers, e.g. in relation to the representation of ethnographic research in texts?
- Interrogating grand narratives:
- How do practice theory sensibilities rethink and reshape dominant narratives of digitalization, such as the notion of work being increasingly 'virtual'?
- How can we understand the persistence of material and embodied practices in seemingly digitized work settings?
- Theoretical integration:
- How can practice theory be combined with other theoretical frameworks, such as actor-network theory or the production of worker subjectivities, to provide a more nuanced analysis of technological changes in organizations and work?
We encourage papers that push the boundaries of ethnographic fieldwork by exploring how the digitalization of work(places) reconfigures the relationships between people, technologies, and materials, including the work of ethnographers. Doing so, this special issue aims to contribute to the growing body of research that advances methodological and theoretical debates on the role of practice theories in ethnographic research.
Submissions Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/joe
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/joe
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”.
Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key deadlines
submissions deadline: 1st June 2025
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