alternatives for social actions" (Gergen, 1978, p. 1346).Assuming that generative theory is a legitimate product of scientific work and is, infact, capable of provoking debate, stimulating normative dialogue, and furnishingconceptual alternatives needed for social transformation, then why has action-research till now so largely downplayed creative theorizing in its work withorganizations? Here we will move to the heart of the chapter and argue that thegenerative incapacity of contemporary action-research derives from the discipline'sunquestioned commitment to a secularized problem-oriented view of the world andthus to the subsequent loss of our capacity as researchers and participants to marvel,and in marvelling to embrace, the miracle and mystery of social organization. If weacknowledge Abraham Maslow's (1968) admonition that true science begins and endsin wonder, then we immediately shed light on why action-research has failed toproduce innovative theory capable of inspiring the imagination, commitment, andpassionate dialogue required for the consensual re-ordering of social conduct.Appreciative inquiry is presented here as a mode of action-research that meets thecriteria of science as spelled out in generative-theoretical terms. Going beyondquestions of epistemology, appreciative inquiry has as its basis a metaphysicalconcern: it posits that social existence as such is a miracle that can never be fullycomprehended (Quinney, 1982; Marcel, 1963). Proceeding from this level ofunderstanding we begin to explore the uniqueness of the appreciative mode. Morethan a method or technique, the appreciative mode of inquiry is a way of living with,being with, and directly participating in the varieties of social organization we arecompelled to study. Serious consideration and reflection on the ultimate mystery ofbeing engenders a reverence for life that draws the researcher to inquire beyondsuperficial appearances to deeper levels of the life-generating essentials andpotentials of social existence. That is, the action-researcher is drawn to affirm, andthereby illuminate, the factors and forces involved in organizing that serve to nourishthe human spirit. Thus, this chapter seeks to enrich our conception of administrativebehavior by introducing a "second dimension" of action-research that goes beyondmerely a secularized problem-solving frame.The proposal that appreciative inquiry represents a distinctive complement totraditional action-research will be unfolded in the following way: First, the role of theoryas an enabling agent of social transformation will be considered; such considerationcan help to eliminate the artificial dualism separating theory from practice. Second, wewill challenge the problem-oriented view of organizing inherent in traditional definitionsof action-research, and describe an affirmative form of inquiry uniquely suited fordiscovering generative theory. Finally, these insights will be brought together in ageneral model of the conceptual underpinnings of appreciative inquiry.TOWARD GENERATIVE THEORY IN ACTIONRESEARCHThe current decade has witnessed a confluence of thinking concerning theparadigmatic refiguration of social thought. As Geertz (1980) notes, there is now evena "blurring of genres" as many social scientists have abandoned without apology themisdirected quest to mimic the "more mature" physical sciences. Turning away from aNewtonian laws-and-instances-type explanation rooted in logical empiricistphilosophy, many social theorists have instead opted for an interpretive form of inquirythat connects organized action to its contextually embedded set of meanings, "lookingless for the sorts of things that connect planets and pendulums and more for the sortsthat connect chrysanthemums and swords" (Geertz, 1980, p.165).In the administrative sciences, in particular, this recent development has beentranslated into observable movement away from mechanistic research designsintended objectively to establish universal causal linkages between variables, such asorganizational size and level of centralization, or between technology, environment,and organizational structure. Indeed, prominent researchers in the field have publiclygiven up the logical positivist idea of "certainty through science" and are nowembarking on approaches to research that grant preeminence to the historicallysituated and ever-changing "interpretive schemes" used by members of a given groupto give life and meaning to their actions and decisions (Bartunek, 1984). Indicative of
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