Considering the Material-discursive Practice: Enacting the Unspoken Goal

Abstract

Goals are commonly recognized through their materialization in explicit statements. By applying a sociomaterial lens to the practice of goal formation, the scope of the analysis is widened beyond pre-defined social and material actors. Hence, considering also the mundane, presumed and overlooked spatial and material dimensions. Through observations of workshops in a home care service quality development initiative in a local Swedish government, it is shown how goals are in becoming and performatively configured given conditioned possibilities of material-discursive arrangements. This study contributes to IS research by demonstrating the applicability of a sociomaterial lens in understanding social phenomena. This is done by showing how goals are formed not only by what actors say and do, but also where, when, how and with what they do it. Through downplaying language and increasing tentativeness toward significant material dimensions, this study shows how goals can be perceived when not necessarily spoken or conscious.