Constructing Grey Knowledge

Abstract

Through explanatory discourse people apply, construct and explain theories of action and attribute meaning to events and to their own actions and those of others. In this chapter we will conduct a detailed analysis of the structure of explanatory discourse and the character of its rationality. Through this analysis we will demonstrate (a) that the rationality of organizational actors is an argumentative rationality aimed at the construction of consensus and shared meanings; (b) that the knowledge contained in the explanations is both structured and opaque, (c) that this particular mix between opacity and structuring makes it possible to both accumulate past knowledge and construct new knowledge.