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Exploring Deep Subjectivity in Sociology and Organizational Studies

The Contributions of William Catton and Riley Dunlap on Paradigm Change

University of South Florida, JJERMIER{at}coba.usf.edu

When William Catton and Riley Dunlap began publishing their groundbreaking work on paradigms in the late 1970s, sociologists had been grappling with fundamental questions about the discipline for at least two decades. According to Catton and Dunlap, however, significant blind spots still remained, the most important falling in the shadow cast by strong anthropocentrism and a worldview that was decidedly nonecological. This anthropocentric bias also dominated the field of organizational studies until the mid-1990s. Both sociology and organizational studies benefited from scholarly analyses conducted by Catton and Dunlap (and others) that uncovered underlying paradigmatic assumptions and that proposed ecologically grounded alternatives. But both fields still tend to be limited by anthropocentrism and need more research aimed at developing theories and models centered on ecological processes and radical organizing. Revisiting Catton and Dunlap's paradigms framework is suggested as a valuable step for both sociologists and organizational studies scholars interested in addressing major gaps in their fields.

Key Words: Thomas Kuhn • paradigm • worldview • taken-for-granted assumptions • new ecological paradigm • ecocentrism • sociological theory • greening organizations • reform environmentalism • corporate environmentalism

Organization & Environment, Vol. 21, No. 4, 460-470 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1086026608331256


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