Performativity Logics and Becoming Subjectivities: The Desire for Recognition

This article develops a novel analytical framework indebted to and inspired by Butler’s performativity theory. Whilst there are empirically and theoretically rich organizational studies that have applied Butler’s ideas, only a few scholars engage specifically with the analytical strategies employed to advance the understanding of how subjects can (re)emerge from performativity. This article addresses this need for further analytical development by proposing an approach based on the conception of performativity logics of subjective agency. We propose four logics of performativity, recognizing that the possible list remains infinite: hyperbolic performativity, sovereign performativity, melancholic performativity, and paranoid performativity. Thereby, this article contributes to current discussions of Butler’s performative approach within organization studies, with a specific view to developing its analytical potential. It further qualifies contemporary discussions of organizational ethical controversies in a novel manner by developing an analytical framework capable of exploring the logical intricacies of ambiguous, uncertain, and dynamic human relations and purposes.