The Transformational Role of Philosophy in Project Management

CALL FOR PAPERS
The Transformational Role of Philosophy in Project Management

Journal: International Journal of Project Management
Publisher: Elsevier
CiteScore: 14.2
Impact Factor: 7.5
Submission Window: 1 June – 30 September 2026
Early‑feedback option (extended abstract): 2 March 2026

Introduction
This Special Collection explores how philosophy can transform project management—not only by questioning its assumptions and practices, but also by revealing its ethical, political, and teleological foundations. It invites work that bridges project studies and philosophical traditions (Western, Eastern, Indigenous, and others) to deepen reflection on the purpose, values, and ideals underpinning projects and their management. The issue aims to encourage critical, imaginative, and responsible scholarship that can reshape both theory and practice in the field.

Guest Editors
Efrosyni Konstantinou (University College London, UK)
David Carl Wilson (Webster University, USA / Webster Vienna, Austria)
Henk den Uijl (University of Humanistic Studies, The Netherlands)
Ralf Müller (BI Norwegian Business School, Norway)

Key Themes / Topic Areas

Submissions invited on (but not limited to):

• What can philosophical traditions (e.g., existentialism, pragmatism, phenomenology, Eastern, Indigenous thought) reveal about the nature and purpose of projects?

• Does project management have an intrinsic social purpose (like medicine, law, education, or architecture), or is it purely instrumental?

• Aims, ideals, meaning, and moral ends of projects and their actors; potential for field‑level transformation.

• Philosophical assumptions about human nature in projects (e.g., Hobbesian, Rousseauian, Parmenidean perspectives).

• Philosophy and the “project‑as‑practice” perspective.

• Role of disorder, uncertainty, and ambiguity in understanding projects.

• Moral agency of the project manager/leader under institutional, economic, and environmental constraints; “dark side” of projects.

• Legitimacy of projects as forms of work organisation and their political and ethical implications.

• Time, evaluation, and success in projects: how ideals, social purpose, and long‑term impact shape what “success” means.

• Epistemic foundations of project scholarship: how knowledge is produced and how ideals and social purpose inform research questions and methods.

• Philosophy of the project profession and the role of “extended reflexivity” and personal legitimation in responsible project research.

Submission Process & Key Dates

1. Optional extended abstract (800–1000 words):

   • Deadline: 2 March 2026

   • Email to: efrosyni.konstantinou@ucl.ac.uk

   • Will help assess suitability for the Special Collection and may be invited to the full paper stage.

2. Virtual workshop (for authors of accepted abstracts):

   • 3 April 2026, 3 pm GMT

3. Full‑paper submission:

   • 1 June – 30 September 2026

   • Submit via Elsevier Editorial Manager:
     🌐 https://www.editorialmanager.com/jpma/Default.aspx

   • In the article type menu, select: “SI: Transformational Role of Philosophy”

   • All papers undergo double‑blind peer review.

   • Accepted papers published in the journal continuously after acceptance.

About the Journal

International Journal of Project Management (IJPM), published by Elsevier, is a leading, high‑impact journal for research on project management, project‑based organising, and related theories and practices, indexed in ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Web of Science.

ServiceSetu Academics — Premier Platform for Academic Opportunities & Research Collaboration

Visit official website of the publisher