Organization Studies and the Legal Person
The social construction of legal persons developed in the Western world about one thousand years ago has historically influenced the construction of organizations, including monasteries, guilds, cities, universities, states, associations, and businesses. Yet the notion of legal person was not presen...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2024-04-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Organizational Sociology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/joso-2023-0036 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850100397039943680 |
|---|---|
| author | Brunsson Nils |
| author_facet | Brunsson Nils |
| author_sort | Brunsson Nils |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The social construction of legal persons developed in the Western world about one thousand years ago has historically influenced the construction of organizations, including monasteries, guilds, cities, universities, states, associations, and businesses. Yet the notion of legal person was not present in influential, early definitions of organizations; rather organizations were understood as systems of interacting physical persons. This understanding is problematic in several respects, whereas the notion of legal person helps to explain many fundamental characteristics of organizations. Furthermore, a definition of organizations inspired by the notion of legal person makes it easier to distinguish clearly among the three phenomena that constitute the main objects of organization studies: organizations, organizing, and the organized. A clearer distinction among three concepts has the potential to revive old questions and generate new questions for organizational research. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e79faa86d96841b1a04872b99c92d1cf |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2752-2997 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Organizational Sociology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e79faa86d96841b1a04872b99c92d1cf2025-08-20T02:40:18ZengDe GruyterJournal of Organizational Sociology2752-29972024-04-012211313610.1515/joso-2023-0036Organization Studies and the Legal PersonBrunsson Nils0Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research (Score), Stockholm and Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Uppsala, SwedenThe social construction of legal persons developed in the Western world about one thousand years ago has historically influenced the construction of organizations, including monasteries, guilds, cities, universities, states, associations, and businesses. Yet the notion of legal person was not present in influential, early definitions of organizations; rather organizations were understood as systems of interacting physical persons. This understanding is problematic in several respects, whereas the notion of legal person helps to explain many fundamental characteristics of organizations. Furthermore, a definition of organizations inspired by the notion of legal person makes it easier to distinguish clearly among the three phenomena that constitute the main objects of organization studies: organizations, organizing, and the organized. A clearer distinction among three concepts has the potential to revive old questions and generate new questions for organizational research.https://doi.org/10.1515/joso-2023-0036legal persondefinition of organizationactorhoodpartial organizationorganizing: the organized |
| spellingShingle | Brunsson Nils Organization Studies and the Legal Person Journal of Organizational Sociology legal person definition of organization actorhood partial organization organizing: the organized |
| title | Organization Studies and the Legal Person |
| title_full | Organization Studies and the Legal Person |
| title_fullStr | Organization Studies and the Legal Person |
| title_full_unstemmed | Organization Studies and the Legal Person |
| title_short | Organization Studies and the Legal Person |
| title_sort | organization studies and the legal person |
| topic | legal person definition of organization actorhood partial organization organizing: the organized |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/joso-2023-0036 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brunssonnils organizationstudiesandthelegalperson |