What Theory Is, What Theory Was: Whence and Whither Theory

This essay offers a critique of Gabriel Abend's call for more action and less abstraction in social theory. The critique questions Abend's insistence on pragmatic presentism-research that can be used tomorrow-and his implicit rejection of our time-honored commitment to construct clarity and rigor in theory. Abend's insistent focus on the present ignores a long history of pragmatism in both social and management theory that has served our profession well. More importantly, his argument misinterprets pragmatism as a rejection of theory when, in fact, pragmatism suggests precisely the opposite.