Whilst Information Systems has the potential to widen our view of the world, it often has the opposite effect by limiting our ability to interact, facilitating managerial and state surveillance or instituting strict hierarchies and personal control. In this book, Bernd Stahl offers an alternative and critical perspective on the subject, arguing that the ongoing problems in this area could be caused by the misconceptualization of the nature and role of IS. Stahl discusses the question of how IS can be used to actually overcome oppression and promote emancipation, breaking the book into four sections. The first section covers the theory of critical research in IS, giving a central place for the subject of ethics. The second section discusses the philosophical underpinnings of this critical research. The third and largest section gives examples of the application of critical work in IS. The final section then reflects on the approach and suggests ways for further development.
Author(s): Bernd Car Stahl
Edition: 1
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 272
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Tables......Page 10
Foreword......Page 11
Preface......Page 13
Acknowledgements......Page 15
Introduction......Page 18
Part I: Theory......Page 24
1 Critical research in information systems......Page 26
2 Theoretical discourses: A comparison of the Foucauldian and Habermasian concepts of discourse in CRIS......Page 32
3 Ethics, morality and critical research in IS......Page 42
4 Emancipation across cultural boundaries: A fundamental problem of critical research in information systems......Page 57
Part II: Philosophy......Page 68
5 Ontology: On positivism, realism, and their relevance for critical IS research......Page 70
6 Epistemology: On information, knowledge and truth......Page 84
7 Methodology: Is there a specific critical way to knowledge?......Page 94
8 Philosophical syncretism in IS research: Final remarks on ontology, epistemology and paradigms......Page 97
Part III: Application......Page 104
9 Information systems as means of (dis)empowerment: The information society and decision support systems in local authorities in Egypt......Page 106
10 Responsible and heroic management of workplace privacy: A critical view of ICT management......Page 121
11 Trust as fetish: A critical theory perspective on research on trust in e-commerce......Page 139
12 The ideological use of privacy and security......Page 156
13 The metaphor of evolution in e-commerce: A critical evaluation......Page 167
14 Commercial colonisation: E-teaching and e-democracy......Page 179
Part IV: Reflection(s)......Page 200
15 Limitations of the critical approach......Page 202
16 The future of critical research in information systems......Page 208
Appendix A: Discourse analysis of the Egyptian information society......Page 213
Appendix B: List of validity claims used for coding the text during critical discourse analysis of e-commerce trust research......Page 219
Notes......Page 221
References......Page 222
Index......Page 252
