Will stakeholder theory continue to transform how we think about business and society? On the occasion of this journal’s 60th anniversary, this review article examines the journal’s role in shaping stakeholder theory to date and suggests that it still has transformative potential. We conducted a bibliometric analysis of co-citations in the literature from 1984 to 2020. Reporting these results, we examine the field’s evolving structure. Contextualized theoretically as an accomplishment of institutional work—the creation of a meaningful and innovative field ideology—this structure is remarkable for how it integrates ethical and behavioral arguments, invites engagement from adjacent domains, and arrives at important insights for business and society. We advance a research agenda consistent with this larger institutional project.

利益相关者理论会继续改变我们对商业和社会的看法吗？值此期刊成立 60 周年之际，这篇评论文章探讨了该期刊迄今为止在塑造利益相关者理论方面的作用，并认为它仍然具有变革潜力。我们对 1984 年至 2020 年的文献中的共同被引进行了文献计量分析。报告这些结果，我们检查了该领域的演变结构。从理论上讲，作为制度工作的一项成就——创造一种有意义和创新的领域意识形态——这种结构的显着之处在于它如何整合伦理和行为论点，邀请相邻领域的参与，并为商业和社会提供重要的见解。我们推进与这个更大的机构项目相一致的研究议程。