Abordagens teóricas da Gestão Social: uma análise de citações exploratória

Abstract

The scientific field of Social Management has a growing academic research that discusses alternative forms of management, characterized by dialogical management actions. This study aims to identify possible theoretical issues that arise in this field. In order to do it, it is conducted a citation analysis of the papers indexed in Google Scholar, from which four theoretical approaches are defined, which are explained by the theoretical foundations (Frankfurt's critical approach and the interorganizational social management development), the origin of its researchers ("puquiana" approach) or by singularities (societal approach of public administration, which is identified from the particular characteristics of a model of public management emerged in Brazil, opposed to the neoliberal management movement of the 1980s). Moreover, the paper shows that among the approaches - at least in the papers with greater impact - common themes can be identified, as the opposition social management versus strategic management; the third sector as an area of occurrence of social management; the prominence of concepts such as participation, dialogue and the common good. Despite these convergences, the paper indicates that there is a basic conceptual subdivision into two parts: one, linking social management strictly to public management, setting it as societal public administration (PAES DE PAULA, 2005a; 2005b), management of social development (FISCHER, 2002) or social management (DOWBOR, 1999b) and another that expands its scope towards a dialogic management action that can (and should) be used in various social systems - whether public, private or non-governmental organizations (FRANÇA-FILHO, 2008; TENÓRIO, 2005).