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Communication as Organizing: Empirical and Theoretical Explorations in the Dynamic of Text and Conversation. Edited by François Cooren, James R. Taylor, & Elizabeth J. Van Every. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006. 248 pp. ISBN: 080585813X.
Karl Weick described James R. Taylor and Elizabeth Van Every's last book, The Emergent Organization (2000), as "one of the most important books about organizations to be published in the last 20 years" (Weick, 2001, p. 168). Communication as Organizing, a new collection of articles by various authors in what they now style the "Montréal School," continues from that work. The self-identification of the editors and authors of this collection as the Montréal School is itself of interest. English is the first language of only three of the ten authors, and two of these three teach at non-English-speaking institutions. The authors come from seven different countries, and although three received PhDs from American universities, none were born in the U.S. and only one now teaches there. Taylor's own bilingual ability is evident from his writing. Brumann-one of the authors with a U.S. PhD-suggests that the school links European and American pragmatism (p. 203). While reading this book, it is interesting to reflect on the organization and communication pathdependencies that brought about this particular configuration.
Although as a collection of chapters this book does not have the same impact as the earlier work, it develops important themes of agency and complementarity that I will explore further below. In addition, the book's structure, which separates it into chapters by different authors, may make it a more useful teaching resource. But first, it is worthwhile to revisit the development of this "school."
During the 1990s, Taylor...