Affiliated Organization

University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

This paper takes issue with those who seek disciplinary certainty for IS, and uses the ideas ofBauman and Foucault to argue that such assurances are both delusory and futile. The recent article byBenbasat and Zmud is specifically targeted since they seek to present some definitive statement ofidentity for the IS discipline, and do so from a central position within the institutional sites of IS. Thepaper develops the argument that any such attempt at disciplining – with its Foucauldian resonances ofpolicing, control and constraint – is bound to be ineffectual in the long term, but paradoxically may behelpful in generating a wide-ranging response and the development of abnormal discourses.

Volume

4

Issue

15

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