Abstract

This paper sets out to reappropriate the concept of organisational change based on the political philosophy of Ernesto Laclau. To achieve this task, the notions of being and becoming and in particular the recent emphasis on the latter, the contingent aspect of change, are critically analysed. As a means of structuring and exemplifying the argument reference is taken especially to the work of Robert Chia and Haridimos Tsoukas. The paper will conclude that change is neither solely a centrally planned activity, nor an ongoing achievement based on particular experiences, but often an antagonistic and emancipatory struggle between competing interests.