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Machine baptisms and heroes of the underground: Performing sociomateriality in an Amsterdam metro project

Leonore van den Ende (Department of Organization Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Alfons van Marrewijk (Department of Organization Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Kees Boersma (Department of Organization Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Journal of Organizational Ethnography

ISSN: 2046-6749

Article publication date: 12 October 2015

350

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to apply the theory of sociomateriality to exhibit how the social and material are entangled and (re)configured over time and in practice in a particular organization of study.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct an ethnographic case study of the North-South metro line project in Amsterdam and use the methods of participant-observation, in-depth interviewing and a desk study.

Findings

The authors showcase the process of sociomaterial entanglement by focussing on the history and context of the project, the agency and performativity of the material and sociomaterial (re)configuration via ritual performance. The authors found the notion of performativity not only concern the enactment of boundaries between the social and material, but also the blurring of such boundaries.

Research limitations/implications

Sociomateriality theory remains difficult to grasp. The implication is the need to provide new lenses to engage this theory empirically.

Practical implications

The authors provide a multi-layered lens for organization researchers to engage sociomateriality theory at a contextual, organizational and practice level.

Social implications

Insights from a historical and contextual perspective can help practitioners to become aware of the diverse and dynamic ways in which social and material entities are entangled and (re)configured over time and in practice.

Originality/value

The authors provide a unique empirical account to exhibit the entanglement and (re)configuration between the social and material in a particular organization of study. This paper studies a tangible organizational setting whereas prior research in sociomateriality mainly focussed on routines in IT and IS. Finally, the authors suggest the ethnographic method to study sociomaterial entanglement from a historical and contextual perspective.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This study has been financed by the Next Generation Infrastructure (NGInfra) research program (Project No. 02.13.07/090 2.28) in the Netherlands. The authors want to thank the Dutch Community of Public Megaproject Managers (KING) for giving access to the North-South metro project and the project employees for their support. Finally, the authors wish to express the gratitude to the participants of the Ethnography Conference 2014 and the reviewers of the Journal of Organizational Ethnography for their comments and supportive feedback.

Citation

van den Ende, L., van Marrewijk, A. and Boersma, K. (2015), "Machine baptisms and heroes of the underground: Performing sociomateriality in an Amsterdam metro project", Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 4 No. 3, pp. 260-280. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOE-01-2015-0007

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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