Pragmatism, neo‐pragmatism and sociocultural theory. Communicative participation as a perspective in LIS
| Published date | 01 February 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410510577998 |
| Date | 01 February 2005 |
| Pages | 23-43 |
| Author | Olof Sundin,Jenny Johannisson |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Pragmatism, neo-pragmatism and
sociocultural theory
Communicative participation as a perspective
in LIS
Olof Sundin and Jenny Johannisson
The Swedish School of Library and Information Science,
Go
¨teborg University and University College of Bora
˚s, Sweden
Abstract
Purpose – To show that the neo-pragmatist position of Richard Rorty, when combined with a
sociocultural perspective, provides library and information science (LIS) with a forceful
epistemological tool.
Design/methodology/approach – Literature-based conceptual analysis of: historical development
of pragmatism in relation to other epistemological positions; neo-pragmatism as a non-dualist, both
purpose and communication oriented, epistemology; and a sociocultural perspective within pedagogy,
originated from the Russian researcher Lev Vygotsky.
Findings – Brought together, a neo-pragmatist, sociocultural perspective contributes to a focus on
people’s actions through the use of linguistic and physical tools. As a tangible example of how
neo-pragmatism can be applied as an epistemological tool within LIS, information seeking seen as
communicative participation is discussed. This article unites a perspective on information seeking as
communicative participation with the neo-pragmatist concepts of “tools” and “communities of
justification”. The article is concluded by an assessment of neo-pragmatism as an epistemological
position within LIS, including those research issues that arise from this position and that are
introduced along the way.
Practical implications – In its focus on usability, the neo-pragmatist position provides a possible
bridge between academic and other professional practices in the field of LIS.
Originality/value – Provides, through the means of neo-pragmatism, an argument for the necessity
of epistemological argumentation within LIS.
Keywords Epistemology,Information searches, Pragmatism
Paper type Literature review
Introduction
This article aims to show that the neo-pragmatist position of Richard Rorty, combined
with a sociocultural perspective, can be a forceful epistemological tool in library and
information science (LIS). LIS has traditionally been oriented towards problem solving and
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
The writing of this article was made possible by funding from the Swedish Knowledge
Foundation (KK-stiftelsen) and its research program LearnIT. The article presents the
epistemological framework of the project Information Seeking in the Transition from
Educational to Professional Practice.
The authors wish to thank Joacim Hansson, Marianne Wikgren, Birger Hjørland and the
anonymous referees for their insightful and valuable comments on earlier versions of this article.
The authors would also like to thank Helena Francke and Frances Hultgren for their eminent
assistance in issues concerning the English language.
Sociocultural
theory
23
Accepted 9 August 2004
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 61 No. 1, 2005
pp. 23-43
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/00220410510577998
applied research, carried out in relation to different professional fields. The discipline’s
orientation towards professional practice is a strength with regard to social relevance but it
also carries with it a responsibility to balance applied research with a discussion of the
basis of research as such. Although the discussion has led a somewhat obscure life within
LIS, some researchers have emphasized the importance of epistemological issues for both
LIS research and practice (e.g. Budd, 2001; Hjørland, 2002). Recently, Library Trends
(Vol. 52, No. 3) also devoted a whole issue to the “philosophy of information”. Despite these
efforts, though, it would seem paradoxical if the knowledge domain of LIS, including both
research and professional practice, where a large part of activities concerns the storage of,
organization of, mediation of and search for different knowledge claims would not devote
sufficient interest to the epistemological groundings of these knowledge claims. The
neo-pragmatist approach that we present in this article is an epistemological position
“beyond” the received view of epistemology where the latter, in Dewey’s (1984, p. 19)
words, represents “[a] spectator theory of knowledge”.
We suggest that LIS may be understood from a focus on communication by arguing
for the usefulness of the concept of communicative participation as an alternative, or
complement, to the concept of information seeking. Knowledge is seen as something
enacted through linguistic and physical actions whose significances and relevance are
judged by the consequences of such actions rather than by a subjective or objective
reality. As an alternative to a dualistic view of knowledge, neo-pragmatism argues for
intersubjectivity, community and solidarity – concepts which focus on communication
and on the importanceof justification. A neo-pragmatistepistemology has consequences
for research within a number of different LIS fields, for example: knowledge
organization, information retrieval (IR), public libraries, cultural policy, information
policy and research on information needs, seeking and use (INSU). Our examples inthis
article are derived mostly from INSU research in general and from INSU in professional
life in particular. This is not a coincidence as questions that concern who and what
determine thevalue of professional informationand its usability are particularly suitable
for studies from a neo-pragmatist perspective. In the article we adhere to the so-called
anti-representational view of knowledge, represented primarily by Richard Rorty (e.g.
Rorty, 1991); language and knowledge represent nothing in themselves, but are seen as
tools throughwhich people deal with their worlds.Central issues within user studiesthat
concern information seeking, information needs and relevance are illuminated with a
neo-pragmatist view of language, knowledge and action; a view that makes use of the
so-called “linguistic turn” in philosophy and the social sciences.
The article opens with a presentation of our neo-pragmatist position. This position
is established in pragmatism’s historical development and essential criticisms against
pragmatism and neo-pragmatism are dealt with. We also relate pragmatism and
neo-pragmatism to other contemporary epistemological positions and discus s a
selection of approaches inspired by pragmatism within LIS. This rather extensive
introduction is motivated by the lack of a more general introduction to pragmatism,
and especially neo-pragmatism, in an LIS context. However, it is important to note that
our point of departure is in how pragmatism can be applied, rather than in the
discussions on the pros and cons of pragmatism that occur in the philosophical
community. Neo-pragmatism is a philosophical epistemological position and it
requires more concrete analytical tools focusing on social aspects, which it will be
afforded in the section below, which addresses a sociocultural perspective within
JDOC
61,1
24
To continue reading
Request your trial