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Image, Imagination, Imaginaries: A Genealogy of Imago-Concepts in Organisational Research

Porsfelt, Robin LU orcid ; Vestergaard, Anne and Hjorth, Daniel LU orcid (2026) In Organization Theory 7(3). p.1-35
Abstract
The concept of ‘imaginaries’ has gained prominence as a lens for examining how collective orientations shape social and organisational action; yet the meaning of this concept and its relation to neighbouring notions has become so diffuse as to call into question its analytical potential. Addressing this need for clarification, we situate imaginaries within a genealogy of imagination, tracing the concept’s descent from early philosophical debates on the ontological status of the image to the contemporary uptake of imaginaries in organisational research. Extending this genealogy to provide an inventory of imagination-related concepts in organisational research, we show how inherited conceptual habits continue to constrain the field by... (More)
The concept of ‘imaginaries’ has gained prominence as a lens for examining how collective orientations shape social and organisational action; yet the meaning of this concept and its relation to neighbouring notions has become so diffuse as to call into question its analytical potential. Addressing this need for clarification, we situate imaginaries within a genealogy of imagination, tracing the concept’s descent from early philosophical debates on the ontological status of the image to the contemporary uptake of imaginaries in organisational research. Extending this genealogy to provide an inventory of imagination-related concepts in organisational research, we show how inherited conceptual habits continue to constrain the field by reducing images to single discrete functions, by narrowing imagination to creativity, and by stretching imaginaries across distinct theoretical tasks in ways that blur differences which matter for analysis. From this diagnosis, we make three interventions. First, we theorise images as layered formations (palimpsests) that accumulate meaning and shift across modes and contexts. Second, we broaden the concept of imagination beyond creativity by treating it as a situated engagement with the non-present. Third, we attain a clearer specification of the different analytical uses of this concept by distinguishing the main lineages through which imaginaries have been theorised. To address the need for a more situated notion of collective imagination beyond imaginaries, the final part of the paper develops the concept of inter-subjunctive as a way of theorising shared imaginative departures from the present. We complement this with a processual and new materialist account of imagination as a relational capacity constituted in the encounter between bodies, materials, and circumstances, rather than possessed by a prior subject. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
The concept of ‘imaginaries’ has gained prominence as a lens for examining how collective orientations shape social and organisational action; yet the meaning of this concept and its relation to neighbouring notions has become so diffuse as to call into question its analytical potential. Addressing this need for clarification, we situate imaginaries within a genealogy of imagination, tracing the concept’s descent from early philosophical debates on the ontological status of the image to the contemporary uptake of imaginaries in organisational research. Extending this genealogy to provide an inventory of imagination-related concepts in organisational research, we show how inherited conceptual habits continue to constrain the field by... (More)
The concept of ‘imaginaries’ has gained prominence as a lens for examining how collective orientations shape social and organisational action; yet the meaning of this concept and its relation to neighbouring notions has become so diffuse as to call into question its analytical potential. Addressing this need for clarification, we situate imaginaries within a genealogy of imagination, tracing the concept’s descent from early philosophical debates on the ontological status of the image to the contemporary uptake of imaginaries in organisational research. Extending this genealogy to provide an inventory of imagination-related concepts in organisational research, we show how inherited conceptual habits continue to constrain the field by reducing images to single discrete functions, by narrowing imagination to creativity, and by stretching imaginaries across distinct theoretical tasks in ways that blur differences which matter for analysis. From this diagnosis, we make three interventions. First, we theorise images as layered formations (palimpsests) that accumulate meaning and shift across modes and contexts. Second, we broaden the concept of imagination beyond creativity by treating it as a situated engagement with the non-present. Third, we attain a clearer specification of the different analytical uses of this concept by distinguishing the main lineages through which imaginaries have been theorised. To address the need for a more situated notion of collective imagination beyond imaginaries, the final part of the paper develops the concept of inter-subjunctive as a way of theorising shared imaginative departures from the present. We complement this with a processual and new materialist account of imagination as a relational capacity constituted in the encounter between bodies, materials, and circumstances, rather than possessed by a prior subject. (Less)
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organization
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Organization Theory
volume
7
issue
3
pages
35 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
ISSN
2631-7877
DOI
10.1177/26317877261484615
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dfca7212-bdfd-4208-aeb6-cd7a8e622842
date added to LUP
2026-09-28 14:33:49
date last changed
2026-09-29 10:44:20
@article{dfca7212-bdfd-4208-aeb6-cd7a8e622842,
  abstract     = {{The concept of ‘imaginaries’ has gained prominence as a lens for examining how collective orientations shape social and organisational action; yet the meaning of this concept and its relation to neighbouring notions has become so diffuse as to call into question its analytical potential. Addressing this need for clarification, we situate imaginaries within a genealogy of imagination, tracing the concept’s descent from early philosophical debates on the ontological status of the image to the contemporary uptake of imaginaries in organisational research. Extending this genealogy to provide an inventory of imagination-related concepts in organisational research, we show how inherited conceptual habits continue to constrain the field by reducing images to single discrete functions, by narrowing imagination to creativity, and by stretching imaginaries across distinct theoretical tasks in ways that blur differences which matter for analysis. From this diagnosis, we make three interventions. First, we theorise images as layered formations (palimpsests) that accumulate meaning and shift across modes and contexts. Second, we broaden the concept of imagination beyond creativity by treating it as a situated engagement with the non-present. Third, we attain a clearer specification of the different analytical uses of this concept by distinguishing the main lineages through which imaginaries have been theorised. To address the need for a more situated notion of collective imagination beyond imaginaries, the final part of the paper develops the concept of inter-subjunctive as a way of theorising shared imaginative departures from the present. We complement this with a processual and new materialist account of imagination as a relational capacity constituted in the encounter between bodies, materials, and circumstances, rather than possessed by a prior subject.}},
  author       = {{Porsfelt, Robin and Vestergaard, Anne and Hjorth, Daniel}},
  issn         = {{2631-7877}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{1--35}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Organization Theory}},
  title        = {{Image, Imagination, Imaginaries: A Genealogy of Imago-Concepts in Organisational Research}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/26317877261484615}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/26317877261484615}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}