Pierre Bourdieu in management and organization studies—A citation context analysis and discussion of contributions

•Review of the use of Bourdieu's work in management and organization studies.•Capital, habitus and field are seldom used in a comprehensive way.•Discusses contributions of Bourdieu's work to a micro-foundation of institutional theory.•Discusses contributions of Bourdieu's work to reflection of academic practices.

SummaryThe work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has received increased attention in management and organization studies (MOS). However, the full potential of his work has so far rarely been exploited. This paper aims to pinpoint the contributions of Bourdieu's work to research in MOS. I conducted a citation context analysis of nine leading journals to investigate how citations to Bourdieu's work have developed over time, which contents from Bourdieu's work are cited and how comprehensively researchers have so far engaged with Bourdieu. Based on these findings, I discuss how Bourdieu's work may contribute to research in MOS, particularly to a micro-foundation of new institutional theory and to the reflection of academic practice in MOS.