ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the stakeholder literature and shows that in this context the problem of stakeholder identification is considered mainly as a problem of classification. It argues that the prevailing ideas fail to go beyond this classification of stakeholders; in order to make the identification of real-world stakeholders a feasible task; a much broader approach is required. It should be noted that our analysis of stakeholder literature has been important in setting the requirements that the method must fulfil. The chapter explains the rationale behind the method by expounding why we believe that in the current stakeholder literature the identification problem has still not been solved. It also explains how this analysis of stakeholder literature has led to the requirements of the method and, as a result, to its basic format. Regarding the requirements deduced from stakeholder theory, Critical systems thinking has been particularly relevant to 'real' stakeholder identification and to supporting the identification of the category of 'the affected'.
