Clegg, Stewart (1947-)

The Anglo-Australian Stewart Clegg has established himself as one of the important figures in contemporary social theory as a result of his contribution to the study of social power and organization. Although his theory is well informed by [Page 104]modern theories, Clegg's recent focus has taken a postmodern turn. As noted in his 2005 Vita Contemplativa, a clear theoretical thread runs through his work:

• 1.
  Power is a “relation of flows,” rather than an obdurate reality out there that avails itself to positivistic analysis.
• 2.
  Power is always countered; hence, a theory of power that disregards the “dialectics of control” between authority and resistance is deeply flawed.
• 3.
  Resources and surveillance are important, but a social theory that undermines the role of other factors in the understanding of power and organizational dynamics is wanting.
• 4.
  The study of power needs to be premised on the idea that there is no one grand rationality but disparate rationalities that are embedded in social history.

Born in Bradford, United Kingdom, Clegg got his bachelor's degree in 1971 from Aston University and his PhD in 1974 from Bradford University. After working briefly for Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, and the European Group for Organization Studies as a postdoctoral research fellow, he was hired by Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, in 1976. At this time, he was re-socialized as Australian, “slowly losing [his] pining and allegiance to the other country, the other continent.” Later he worked at the Universities of New England, St. Andrews, and Western Sydney. Currently, he is professor of management at the University of Technology, Sydney, and Director of the Innovative Collaborations, Alliance, and Networks Research Center. He has authored or coauthored 30 books and has published more than 90 journal articles.

Clegg's first book, Power, Rule and Domination (1975), deals with the social phenomenology of power. In this work, he investigated a sociological topic but relied on assumptions formulated both in and outside the field of sociology. From sociology, the concepts of power, rule, and domination, as spelled out by Max Weber and Georg Simmel, are used. Conversely, Clegg borrows Ludwig Wittgenstein's concepts of “language game” and “forms of life” to help him understand the grammar of power dynamics. Furthermore, Clegg used an ethnomethodological approach to examine the nature of power in organizations. This was unconventional for its time because sociologists of organization hardly examined organizational dynamics as a process in which “practical theorists” are actively engaged. Ultimately, Clegg's study of a construction site in Northern England provided a nuanced relational and contextual analysis of power in which “deep rules” and “'iconic' systems of domination” are critical. Accordingly, he was able to avoid the flaws of previous theories that have limited themselves to the surface reality of power.

In his later study of power and organizations, Clegg further extends his position on the need to transcend a surface analysis of power. This time, the subjects of his critical exegesis were theories that dealt with the behavioral dimensions of power and organizations. Because of their exclusive focus on the manifest operations involved in the decision-making processes and portrayed organizations in a pluralist fashion, these theories gave scant attention to the structural basis of power. According to Clegg, the analysis of power in organizations requires more than understanding which group has control over which resources. Rather, emphasis needs to be placed on structural arrangements that constrain social behavior. Yet his structural approach is based on a reconceptualized notion of structure. Structure is not viewed as a prearranged social relation. Instead, it is regarded as “sedimented selection rules,” the understanding of which entails historical analysis.

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