Pragmatic constructivism (PC) is a philosophical framework of how people create, utilise and share intelligence about the world in which they exist, in order to take successful action. To do so they construct a framework they consider reality to guide their action.
PC is centrally build upon Ludwig Wittgenstein's work on Language games and can provide a normative template on how to act successfully in a given world context, thereby providing a basis for learning how to improve action i.e. becoming more successful. PC can be used to devise conceptual and theoretical frameworks for human activities and can provide a basis on which they can be defended and justified.
History and background Pragmatic constructivism has been developed by philosophy and management scholars throughout past decades. Main philosophical perspectives such empiricism, rationalism, existentialism and philosophy of language all play an important role in the idea of integration. The most important underlying inspiration is, however, the late Wittgenstein's philosophy of language.Wittgenstein, L., (1953). Philosophische Untersuchungen (1953). Philosophical Investigations [PI], translated by G. E. M. Anscombe (1953) More specifically PC emerged in the 70s from the endeavors of various interdisciplinary research groups in philosophy and various social sciences connected to Aalborg University to produce problem-relevant research by implementing various Nordic action research approaches combined with inspirations from notably J. L. Austin, H.-G. Gadamer and J. Habermas. PC ideas can be traced to L. Nørreklit 1978, the philosophical driver of the framework, the actor-based methodology ideas in 1983,Nørreklit L., Pedersen S. L., Prangsgaard B., & Tuft K. (1983). Aktørsmetoden. Aalborg: Aalborg University Press. and the logical structures of the social essential for the construction of possibilities.Nørreklit L. (1987). Formale Strukturer i den Sociale Logik, Aalborg: Aalborg University Press. The first presentation of integration of the four dimensions of reality below is presented in L. Nørreklit 1991, and further developed and applied in publications in 2004, 2006 and 2007 - in which the theory was termed constructivist pragmatism (2006) and adjusted to pragmatic constructivism (2007).Henriksen L.B., Nørreklit L., Jørgensen K. M., Christensen J.B. & O’Donnell D. (2004). Dimensions of Change - Conceptualising Reality in Organisational Research. Copenhagen: Business School Press.;
Nørreklit L., Nørreklit H., & Israelsen P. (2006). Validity of Management Control Topoi? Towards Constructivist Pragmatism. Management Accounting Research. 17, 1.;
Nørreklit H., Nørreklit L. & Mitchell F. (2007). Theoretical Conditions for Validity in Accounting Performance Measurement. In Andy Neely (ed.), Business Performance Measurement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
PC is developed by a research network that started to emerge in 2006 and presented its theory of reality construction as an integrated relational complex of the four dimensions in conjunction with a variety of PC based case studies.Jakobsen, M., Johanson I-L & Nørreklit H. (2011). An Actor’s Approach to Management – conceptual framework and company practices. Copenhagen: DJOEF. This presentation also includes the theory of co-narration and leadership as conductorship. Since then the network has worked on further developing theory and applicability of PC resulting in amongst other the learning theory of truth,Nørreklit H., Nørreklit L. & Mitchell F. (2007). Theoretical Conditions for Validity in Accounting Performance Measurement. In Andy Neely (ed.), Business Performance Measurement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. the theory of generalization,Nørreklit H., Nørreklit L. & Mitchell F. (2016). Understanding practice generalisation – opening the research/practice gap, Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management. 13, 3, 278-302. construct causality,Nørreklit H., Nørreklit L., Mitchell F. & Bjørnenak T. (2012).The Rise of the Balanced Scorecard! Relevance Regained? Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change, 8, 4, 490-510.;
Nørreklit, L. (2013). Complexity and practice control. On complexity and construct causality. In Reinbacher, G. S., Riis, O.P., & Zeller, J. eds. The Challenge of Complexity. Aalborg: Aalborg University Press. 59-86. coherence and merger of reality constructs,Nørreklit L. (2017). Epistemology. In H. Nørreklit A philosophy of management accounting: A pragmatic constructivist approach. New York: Routledge. the concept of the social factory and the impact of the differentiation between practice and reductivist control languages (as in IT),Nørreklit L., Jack, L., & Nørreklit, H. (2019). Moving towards digital governance of university scholars: Instigating a post-truth university culture. Journal of Management and Governance. 23, 869–899. a theory of values and the language game of goodness including the ethics of the good versus the ethics of the best.Nørreklit, L. (2013). Applied Ethics and Practice Ontology. In Nykänen, H., Riis, O-.P., & Zeller, J. eds. Theoretical and Applied Ethics, Aalborg: Aalborg University Press, 143-171. It has also inspired investigations into organizational sustainability and corporate reporting.Lueg, K., Lueg, R., Andersen, K., & Dancianu, V. (2016). Integrated reporting with CSR practices: A pragmatic constructivist case study in a Danish cultural setting. Corporate Communications, 21(1), 20-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-08-2014-0053
Reality construction The philosophy of PC is concerned with the understanding and controlling the conditions sufficient for actions to succeed to inspire to a better living. To do this it produces a framework for how people construct and influence their reality.Nørreklit L. (2011). Actors & reality: a conceptual framework on creative governance. In Jakobsen, M., Johanson I-L & Nørreklit H. An Actor’s Approach to Management – conceptual framework and company practices. Copenhagen: DJOEF.;
Nørreklit, L. (2013). Applied Ethics and Practice Ontology. In Nykänen, H., Riis, O-.P., & Zeller, J. eds. Theoretical and Applied Ethics, Aalborg: Aalborg University Press, 143-171.;
Nørreklit L. (2017). Epistemology. In H. Nørreklit A philosophy of management accounting: A pragmatic constructivist approach. New York: Routledge.
Reality and world The reality construct is produced by people and guides their activities in the world. Thus people are considered actors constantly influencing relations and intervening with the activities of other people:“Although reality and world are related concepts and often used as if they have the same meaning, they do not at all mean the same things and cannot be used interchangeably without confusing theoretical consequences. The world includes all things, events or states of affairs that exist, irrespective of whether we know they exist or not. ... To be is to be in the world. It does not matter what kind of phenomenon it is, ... Although more and more things in our life-world are constructed, the world itself, i.e. the universe, is still not constructed. ... It was there before we were born into it. We know only a small fraction of that which it contains, but its existence is a condition for us and for our constructions.
Accordingly, 'world' is an inclusive concept. It includes everything that exists. 'World' is also a realistic concept meaning that the world and its phenomena, including our constructions, exist independently of our recognition of them.”Nørreklit L. (2017). Epistemology. In H. Nørreklit A philosophy of management accounting: A pragmatic constructivist approach. New York: Routledge. p. 28.In PC, the differences between the concepts ‘reality’ and ‘world’ is consequential for theory as well as practice. The concept ‘world’ is inclusive: it includes everything that exists, and everything that it includes is real. It includes all real constructs they be physical, cognitive or social. It includes fictions and illusions but not that which the fictions and illusions are about. It “includes all things, events or states of affairs that exist, irrespective of whether we know they exist or not."Nørreklit L. (2017). Epistemology. In H. Nørreklit A philosophy of management accounting: A pragmatic constructivist approach. New York: Routledge. p. 23.
Learning theory of Truth PC considers truth as a concept that is based on the ability of learning. Learning is the process of analysing and reducing the "truth gap", i.e. the gap between the "pro-active truth" and the "pragmatic truth". The claims given prior to action are considered "pro-active truth." They are based on existing knowledge and believed to 'correspond to the world'. Their meaning produces expectations as to what will happen under specified conditions. Pragmatic truth is what actually happens if the conditions are satisfied. The conditions may be initiated by the actions of actors or accidentally through developing circumstances. Eventual difference between the proactive and the pragmatic truth is the truth gap which is subject to analysis and learning. While real stories can be traced back to evidence and thus enable real learning, fictions are revealed by not being able to enable such tracing.Nørreklit H., Nørreklit L. & Mitchell F. (2007). Theoretical Conditions for Validity in Accounting Performance Measurement. In Andy Neely (ed.), Business Performance Measurement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Integration
The four Dimensions In PC, integration is a central concept. The human 'being in the world' is controlled by the relational construct - called reality - in which four dimensions well integrated constitute reality and enable the person to function effectively as actor.Nørreklit L. (2011). Actors & reality: a conceptual framework on creative governance. In Jakobsen, M., Johanson I-L & Nørreklit H. An Actor’s Approach to Management – conceptual framework and company practices. Copenhagen: DJOEF.;
Nørreklit L. (2017). Epistemology. In H. Nørreklit A philosophy of management accounting: A pragmatic constructivist approach. New York: Routledge. The four dimensions are the factual basis, possibilities, values and the communication. Insufficient integration of these dimensions make the reality construct produce illusions, making it difficult for actors to understand and avoid failures.Nørreklit L. (2017). Epistemology. In H. Nørreklit A philosophy of management accounting: A pragmatic constructivist approach. New York: Routledge. p.32