Introducing Projectification Research

This chapter introduces the concept of projectification, a concept that aims to capture an increasing reliance on ‘the project’ in our contemporary societies and economies. A project is often thought of as a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. However, sometimes ‘the project’ refers to something less tangible, to a discursive theme in contemporary society that appears to aid us in the way we make sense of what we do. The introduction sketches out a brief historical overview of the emerging projectification field of research and presents the chapters included in the volume. Representing more than 40 years of research on projectification, the chapters are written by researchers who share an interest in the proliferation of ‘the project’, researchers who regard the project as something more than (just) an organisational form or function. They critically examine the function and effects of projects and analyse the logic, the politics, the discursive practices and context, or interfaces, of projects and projectification. The aim of this book is to consolidate this research field by illustrating theoretical perspectives on and empirical implications of projectification. In essence, this entails mapping out what we know (in theory) and how we can conceptualise the phenomenon at hand, but also to illustrate the empirical implications of projectification—what does projectification mean for individuals, organisations and societies?