Beyond Bourdieu, Foucault and Habermas: Review and Assessment of Critical Information Systems Research

This paper presents a literature review of critical information systems (IS) research. Specifically, it focuses on how IS researchers have responded to Myers and Klein’s (2011) call to consider critical approaches and theorists in addition Bourdieu, Foucault and Habermas. The review identifies and discusses three types of critical IS research “beyond Bourdieu, Foucault and Habermas”: work based on a) (other) critical grand social theories, b) postcolonialism and c) data-focused critical methods (i.e., Capabilities Approach, Critical Discourse Analysis, Critical Heuristics and Design, Frame Analysis and Phronetic Enquiry). Based on the literature review, the paper maps the landscape of critical approaches and theories and identify their origins. This analysis is helpful for IS researchers interested in conducting critical IS research by charting the range of critical research approaches beyond Bourdieu, Foucault and Habermas.