Critical performativity has become a promising notion for critical scholars who want to have concrete impact on society. Although the number of studies contributing to this literature has significantly increased in recent years, most of them are still restricted to theoretical debates. Rarely are those who have analyzed empirical cases and explored the institutional context that strengthen or limit the chances of critical projects to be successfully performed in practice. In this article we draw on the case of Popular Cooperative Incubators in Brazil to address this blind spot in current literature on critical performativity. We particularly focus on the institutional context for critical projects to be performative and on how actors shape the institutional context. We develop the notion of “critical performative work” to better show how the combination of institutional theory and critical management studies can help advance critical performativity. We offer both new theoretical contributions and practical suggestions for critical theory to have a larger impact in practice.

对于想对社会产生具体影响的批判学者来说，批判性表现力已经成为一个有前途的概念。尽管近年来为该文献做出贡献的研究数量已大大增加，但其中大多数仍仅限于理论辩论。很少有分析经验案例并探索制度背景的人，这些背景会加强或限制关键项目在实践中成功执行的机会。在本文中，我们以巴西的大众合作孵化器为例，以解决当前有关关键性能的文献中的这一盲点。我们特别关注使关键项目具有表现力的制度背景，以及参与者如何塑造制度背景。我们提出“关键绩效工作”的概念，以更好地展示制度理论和关键管理研究的结合如何有助于提高关键绩效。我们为批判理论在实践中产生更大影响提供了新的理论贡献和实践建议。