ABSTRACT
The third example of an application of critical research in information systems aims at problematic aspects of mainstream IS research. The example of empowerment through ICT in Egypt underlined the social relevance of the critical perspective, whereas the example of responsibility and heroic management was meant to show the importance of conceptual work in critical research. This chapter uses the critical instruments to analyse and critique the traditional understanding of research. It builds directly on much of what I outlined in Part II on the philosophy of critical research, particularly epistemology and ontology. The chapter goes beyond such general elaborations and develops a critique of mainstream IS research by investigating research on trust in e-commerce. It continues the ongoing themes of the book by emphasising the question of ethics and morality and arguing that these require more explicit recognition in traditional as well as critical research. Moreover, it develops a concept that forms part of the classical Marxist critique of capitalism, namely the concept of fetishism, and applies this to e-commerce trust research.
