Abstract

Since John Austin introduced the expression “performative utterance” in 1962, the concept of performativity has been subjected to multiple translations by social scientists and philosophers such as Derrida, Butler, Callon, Barad or Lyotard, and each of its sequels has nurtured the development of organizational theory. This chapter provides an account of performativity emergence in Austin’s philosophy of ordinary language and traces the development of four conceptualizations of performativity that are still highly influential in organizational analysis: performativity as constitution through citation (Butler, Derrida), performativity as bringing theory into being (Callon, MacKenzie), performativity as socio-materiality mattering (Barad) and performativity as searching for efficiency (Lyotard). We provide illustrations of the uses of these distinct approaches to performativity by organizational scholars, and explain how their coexistence in the organizational field creates tensions, fuels debates yet also offers an opportunity to provoke a performative turn in organizational theory.