Routine Dynamics and Fluid Technologies at Work

Abstract

This paper combines insights drawn from the fields of routine dynamics (RD) and science and technology studies (STS) to analyse the enactment of objects in an emerging organizational routine. I zoom in on a specific case that was part of a two-year ethnographic study shadowing a literacy coach, who facilitates professional development regarding literacy in school. Using the concept of ‘fluid technologies’, developed by STS scholars Marianne de Laet and Annemarie Mol (2000), enables me to analyse objects, such as a folder, PowerPoints, and models, to see how a routine develops and varies over time and place while remaining recognizable (Feldman et al. 2021a). The emerging routine renders visible various practices and patterns, although similarities come in varying shades, gradients, and mixtures. The literacy coach’s facilitating role is of great importance, enacting objects and guiding the flows and processes of objects in the emerging routine. The article adds to the existing research literature on routine dynamics, highlighting the relevance of theories of fluid technologies when studying objects in emerging organizational routines. Furthermore, conceptualizing momentarily stabilization as routines is significant to the STS field to understand more on work and organization.