Practice Contestation in and between Communities of Practice

From Top-Down to Inclusive Policymaking at the World Bank

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6146909
AutoresMaïka Sondarjee (0000-0003-1393-7436, University of Ottawa, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume4
Fascículo1
Data de publicação2024-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoGlobal Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2634-3797 • E-ISSN: 2634-3797
EditoraOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/isagsq/ksad071
OpenAlexW4391592194
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas57

By focusing on like-mindedness, community of practice (CoP) scholars are often accused of downgrading issues of power and contestation. This article theorizes practice contestation as an integral part of participation in a community. Building on a relational ontology and the concept of epistemic power, I define practice contestation as tacit (practical) or discursive interventions challenging the shared background knowledge of a CoP. This process is bidirectional (pushing for and against change) and happens at two levels (within a CoP and at the boundaries with other CoPs). This framework leads to four types of practice contestation: internal disruption, internal resistance, external pressure, and external resistance. These concomitant types of contestation participate in the constant fluctuations of international practices and social orders. Methodologically, this article looks at the CoP of World Bank’s senior managers and their boundaries with other communities, and it builds on interview material and archival documents collected between 2017 and 2020

Community of practice · Epistemology · Ontology · Political science · Power (physics · Process (computing · Psychological intervention · Public relations · Resistance (ecology · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Labor Movements and Unions · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology