Accounting for Race: A Critical Institutionalist Approach

We examine the integration of critical paradigms into institutional theory to address racial inequities, particularly anti-Black racism. Amid a growing literature calling for explicit recognition of systemic racism, we explore the integration (and lack thereof) of a critical orientation within institutional theory. Through a poststructuralist paradigm, we propose a critical institutionalism framework, integrating Foucauldian poststructuralism, to provide clearer conceptual distinctions and uncover the genealogical roots of white supremacy within structural regimes. We emphasize the necessity of understanding institutional behavior and structures in the context of their historical and ongoing evolution as part of a white supremacist project. Through this Perspectives Essay , we intend to spark meaningful conversations in sport management in regard to how we study and theorize organizational behavior and racial power dynamics. We extend our analyses beyond explicit instances of racism to, instead, study the mundane, everyday, and taken-for-granted structures perpetuating racial inequities.