ppreciative Inquiry Applied within the Development of Social and Medical Organizations: A Socio-anthropological Analysis
The Tenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities- Copyright © 2012
FORMAT | Presented paper
LANGUAGE | English
HOW TO CITE| SANDU, Antonio (2012). Appreciative Inquiry Applied within the Development of Social and Medical Organizations: A Socio-anthropological Analysis. Prezentată la The Tenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, 14 – 16 iunie 2012, Centre Mont-Royal in Montréal, Canada.
ABSTRACT:
The article aims to investigate the possibilities of recovery of Appreciative Inquiry as a methodology oforganizational development of social and medical organisations, within the area of organizational cultureanalysis. The concept of appreciative inquiry is launched by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivatsva in thearticle Appreciative inquiry in organizational life, published in 1987. The authors resume in this article adebate on the importance of theories for social organizational (re) construction, discussed in the context ofresearch-action potential, ideas taken from Kenneth Gergen (2005), related to the nature of theoretical knowledge and its role in the social transformation. The authors propose a redefinition of scientific purposes of Action Research: „the purpose of science is not to discover and verify social laws that allow prediction and control” (Cooperrider apud Cojocaru, D., 2004) but social and behavioral sciences should be defined in relation to their “generating capacity”, meaning the ability to “challenge the guiding assumptions of culture”, to raise fundamental questions about contemporary social life, “to reconsider what is considered self-evident” and thereby to provide new alternative for social action. Bushe considers appreciative inquiry as a theory of organization and a method of social change, one of the most significant innovations in action research.
KEYWORDS:
appreciative inquiry; social constructionism; transmodern paradigm