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What is the Actor in Organizational Institutionalism?
Uppsala University, Department of Business Studies, Uppsala, Sweden.
2009 (English)In: Nordiske organisasjonsstudier, ISSN 1501-8237, Vol. 11, no 3, p. 23-44Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The actor is found both in the theatre and in the study of ‘the social’. In the sociological study of institutions and organizations (recently named organizational institutionalism) the actor has been considered according to the paradox of embedded agency, suffering the incompatibility of structure andagency. This article focuses on the constitution of the field and its stability in embeddedness. Through the study of writings within organizational institutionalism, a number of perceptions of the actor emerge. Using the idea of the avatar, Erving Goffman’s ideas on interaction and performance, and an internal theoretical distinction between similarity and variation, four avatars of embedded agency are identified in a clarification of distinctions between types of actors. The conclusion is that with a theoretically stringent use of mediator, translator, change agent and entrepreneur, the concept of embedded agency is not a problem or weakness, but rather the strength of organizational institutionalism.

Abstract [sv]

Aktören finns såväl i teatern som i studiet av det sociala. Den uppfattade paradoxen i det oförenliga mötet av strukturell påverkan och handlingsfrihet har präglat mycket av den sociologiska institutionella teorins diskurs om organisationer. Med fokus på fältets konstitution och dess inbäddade stabilitet studeras de bilder av aktören som framträder ur det som producerats inom diskursen. Med hjälp av idén om avatarer, Erving Goffman’s idéer om interaktion och föreställning samt den institutionella teorins distinktion mellan processer mot likhet och mot variation; identifieras 4 avatarer som uppbär aktörsbegreppet inom organisatorisk institutionalism. Slutsatserna är att med en teoretisk stringent användning av förmedlare, översättare, förändringsagenter och entreprenörer blir inte det inbäddade aktörskapet ett problem eller svaghet för organisatorisk institutionalism, utan tvärt om, det blir dess styrka.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Bergen: Fagbokforlaget , 2009. Vol. 11, no 3, p. 23-44
Keywords [en]
Actor, performance, field, organizational institutionalism, new institutional theory, institutional entrepreneurship, translation, mediators, change agents, embedded agency
National Category
Business Administration
Research subject
Business Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-70326OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-70326DiVA, id: diva2:1265646
Available from: 2018-11-26 Created: 2018-11-26 Last updated: 2018-11-26Bibliographically approved

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Dar, Ravi

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