Ventriloquism’s methodological scope

Abstract

In this response to Cooren (2014), I question whether a theory tied to a scholarly tradition with strong epistemological and methodological commitments can in fact be a response to Craig’s (1999) call for dialogue between communication traditions. Ventriloquism originated in the Montréal School of the Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO), a field of study that understands organizations and organizing to be the result of interaction. Because of this epistemology, CCO scholars use conversation analysis (CA) as their primary method. Although Cooren has presented ventriloquism as a means to unify the field, it seems difficult to imagine other research methodologies being adopted into such a vision.