When does the owl of Minerva spread its wings? Shadow organizing and modes of inquiry

The introduction of the notion of “shadow organizing” in organization studies is in many ways a fascinating and bold move towards exploring organizations as they happen “in practice”. The “shadow” is an interesting symbol of what happens “betwixt and between”, and, used as a metaphor, it sharpens researchers’ attention to what often escapes the study of canonical practices.
The article focuses on and critiques the association of “shadow organizing” with post-epistemologies that are grounded in process ontology. The article discusses aspects of relational thinking in the social sciences to identify possible ontological commitments. Guided by John Dewey and Arthur Bentley’s genealogical reconstruction of modes of inquiry the article, furthermore, examines the nature and relevance of substantialist and relational research approaches. It is the argument of the article that relational research approaches need not make commitment to process ontology, and that the relational ambitions imbued in the metaphor of shadow organizing are in fact better honored for their methodological virtues.