Session 13: Institutional Change and Social Movements

Topics

Institutions are the humanly devised frames, norms, and regulations that enable and constrain individual behavior and make social life predictable and meaningful (see week 11). This week we examine how institutions change, where change is defined as an observed difference in form, quality, or state over time in the institution being examined. Institutions can change in a variety of ways: by adaptation, diffusion, design, and collective action. Scott & Davis (2007) point out that to date most research on institutional change has focused on how organizations adapt and conform to institutional environmental pressures in order to achieve legitimacy. Aldrich & Ruef (2006) note that a good deal of research has also examined the diffusion of institutions among organizations in a population through evolutionary processes of variation, selection, and retention. However, very little research has examined how institutions arise in the first place and why and how they change over time. Social movement and technology innovation scholars are beginning to address this gap by studying how institutional entrepreneurs design and mobilize collective action to repair or replace institutions.

Required Readings

  • Hargrave & Van de Ven (2006), “A Collective Action Model of Institutional Innovation,” AMR, 31, 4:864-888.

  • McAdam, McCarthy, & Zald (1996), Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political opportunities, mobilizing structures and cultural framings,” NY: Cambridge U. Press, pp. 1-20.

  • Maguire (2002) “The Linked Fates of Ideas and Innovations: Discourse and the adoption of new treatments for HIV/AIDS,” Health Care Management Review, 27, 3: 74-88.

  • Garud, Jain, & Kumaraswamy (2002), “Institutional Entrepreneurship in the Sponsorship of Common Technological Standards: The Case of Sun Microsystems and JAVA,” AMJ 45: 196-214.

  • Sine & Lee (2009), Tilting at Windmills? The environmental movement and the emergence of the U.S. wind energy sector,” ASQ, 54: 123-155.

Supplementary Readings

    • Aldrich & Ruef (2006) “Organizations Evolving,” chapter 11 on Community evolution, pp. 240-266

    • Ruttan & Hayami (1984) "Toward a Theory of Induced Institutional Innovation" Jrnl Development Studies, 20.

    • Porac, Thomas, Wilson, Paton, & Kanfer (1995) "Rivalry and the Industry Model of Scottish Knitwear Producers," ASQ, 40: 203-229.

    • Aldrich & Fiol (1994) "Fools Rush In? Institutional Context of Industry Creation," AMR 19: 645-670.

    • Fligstein (1996) “Markets as Politics: A political-cultural approach to market institutions,” American Sociological Review, 61: 656-673.

    • Clemens & Cook (1999) “Politics and Institutionalism: Explaining durability and change,” Annual Review of Sociology, 25: 441-466.

    • Stryker (2000) “Legitimacy processes as institutional politics: Implications for theory and research in the sociology of organizations,” Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 17: 179-223.

    • Greenwood, Suddaby, & Hinings (2002) “Theorizing change: The role of professional associations in the transformation of institutionalized fields,” AMJ, 45, 1: 58-80.

    • Seo & Creed (2002) “Institutional contradictions, praxis, and institutional change: A dialectical perspective,” AMR, 27, 2: 222-247.

    • Van de Ven & Hargrave (2004) “Social, technical & Institutional change: A literature review,” in Poole & Van de Ven, Handbook of Organizational Change & Innovation, NY: Oxford Univ. Press.

    • Davis, McAdam, Scott & Zald eds. (2005) Social movements and organization theory,” Cambridge U. Press.

    • Haveman, Rao & Paruchuri (2007) “The Winds of Change: The Progressive Movement and…Thrift” ASR, 72:117-142.

    • O’Mahony & Bechky (2008) “Boundary Organizations: Enabling collaboration among unexpected allies,” ASQ, 53: 422-459.

    • Davis, Morrill, Rao, & Soule (2008) “Introduction: Social movements in organizations and markets,” ASQ, 53: 389-394.