This book has the intention of broadening research within the IS field. It collects together into one volume new critical assessments of major social theorists, philosophers and currents of thought. Detailed coverage is given to: functionalism and neo-functionalism, phenomenology (Husserl and Heidegger), critical theory (Adorno and Habermas), hermeneutics, Foucault, Giddens, actor network theory, social shaping of technology, critical realism and complexity theory. The book provides a vital, accessible and critically authoritative narrative on the relevance of these modes of thinking to information systems research.

Contributors include:

Debra Howcroft, Minh Q. Huynh, Fernando M. Ilharco, Lucas D. Introna, Matthew Jones, Heinz K. Klein, Allen S. Lee, M. Lynne Markus, Yasmin Merali, John Mingers, Nathalie Mitev, Kamal Munir, Michael D. Myers, Wanda Orlikowski, Stephen K. Probert, Leslie P. Willcocks, Melanie Wilson.

Each chapter is written by an expert/experts in both IS and the particular line of thinking under review. Lee provides a ground clearing introduction to the philosophy of science. Markus critically appraises the promise that still lies within functionalism and neo-functionalism. Introna and Ilharco discuss Husserl's and Heidegger's phenomenology in relation to 'the screen'. Myers, Probert, and Klein and Huynh reveal the abiding applicability of hermeneutics, Adorno's and Habermas's critical social theory respectively. Willcocks details the evolution of Foucault's mode of thinking and its usefulness, including essential concepts of power/knowledge, genealogy, the disciplinary society and technology.

Jones and colleagues reconsider structuration theory, and provide considerable insight into Giddens' later thinking and its role in IS. Howcroft and her co-authors focus on the social shaping of technology approaches, including actor network theory, while Mingers brings critical realism into play suggesting that it can provide an underlying philosophy for information systems. Finally, Merali details and assesses an area strangely neglected by IS researchers, namely complexity theory. Overall the book provides a rich, insightful and critical set of fresh, key contributions to the study of technology and information systems.