This book is based on my research in organizational discourse over the last decade. Starting with my doctoral research, I have conducted theoretical and empirical studies, employing aspects of the four approaches or paradigms that are discussed in this book (interpretive, functional, critical and structurational). Even though what is presented here is far from a comprehensive discussion of the available approaches to understanding and researching discourse (something unlikely to be achieved in a single volume), I have nevertheless endeavoured to present a structured exposition that addresses the main streams of research in organizational discourse and conveys the variety of options, vibrancy and promise of this emerging field.

Chapter 1 underlines the increased attention to discourse in social science, and more particularly in organization theory since the late 1970s. It then addresses the important role of context in understanding discourse; outlines some key features of organizational texts; discusses the role of empirical discourse analysis; outlines the variety of ways in which discourse has been conceptualized and employed; and finally offers some thoughts on what makes a discourse lens for the study of organizations distinctive and fruitful.

Chapters 2–5 then expand on the interpretive, functional, critical and structurational streams to organizational discourse. In chapter 2 interpretivism is outlined as encompassing the commitment to in-depth understanding of actors' first-order interpretations, and distinguished from subjectivism in terms of interpretivism's acceptance of the desirability of more general frameworks derived inductively from data.