Showing papers on "Agency (sociology) published in 2007"
Book•
16 May 2007
TL;DR: In this paper, Tania Murray Li carefully exposes the practices that enable experts to diagnose problems and devise interventions, and the agency of people whose conduct is targeted for reform, focusing on attempts to improve landscapes and livelihoods in Indonesia.
Abstract: The Will to Improve is a remarkable account of development in action. Focusing on attempts to improve landscapes and livelihoods in Indonesia, Tania Murray Li carefully exposes the practices that enable experts to diagnose problems and devise interventions, and the agency of people whose conduct is targeted for reform. Deftly integrating theory, ethnography, and history, she illuminates the work of colonial officials and missionaries; specialists in agriculture, hygiene, and credit; and political activists with their own schemes for guiding villagers toward better ways of life. She examines donor-funded initiatives that seek to integrate conservation with development through the participation of communities, and a one-billion-dollar program designed by the World Bank to optimize the social capital of villagers, inculcate new habits of competition and choice, and remake society from the bottom up.
Demonstrating that the “will to improve” has a long and troubled history, Li identifies enduring continuities from the colonial period to the present. She explores the tools experts have used to set the conditions for reform—tools that combine the reshaping of desires with applications of force. Attending in detail to the highlands of Sulawesi, she shows how a series of interventions entangled with one another and tracks their results, ranging from wealth to famine, from compliance to political mobilization, and from new solidarities to oppositional identities and violent attack. The Will to Improve is an engaging read—conceptually innovative, empirically rich, and alive with the actions and reflections of the targets of improvement, people with their own critical analyses of the problems that beset them.
1,929 citations
Book•
19 Oct 2007
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an analytical framework for the three pillars of institutions: Logics, Agency, Carriers, and Level, which they call the Three Pillars of Institutions.
Abstract: Preface Introduction 1. Early Institutionalists 2. Institutional Theory Meets Organizations 3. Crafting an Analytic Framework I: Three Pillars of Institutions 4. Crafting an Analytic Framework II: Logics, Agency, Carriers, and Level 5. Institutional Construction 6. Institutionalization 7. Institutional Processes and Organizations 8. Institutional Processes and Organization Fields 9. An Overview, an Observation, a Caution, and a Sermon References Index About the Author
1,512 citations
TL;DR: The recent special issue of the Organization Studies journal as mentioned in this paper has been devoted to developing a deeper understanding of the concept of institutional entrepreneurship and to offer new avenues for future research, as well as providing an important benchmark for subsequent research on this phenomenon.
Abstract: We are delighted to introduce this special issue of Organization Studies ,t he purpose of which is to develop a deeper understanding of the concept of institutional entrepreneurship and to offer new avenues for future research. This concept has been attracting considerable attention in recent years, as was reflected in the record number of papers that were submitted ‐ the largest number that this journal has received for any of its special issues to date. As a result, the selection process has been stringent and we are very pleased to present the eight articles in this special issue, all of which survived the demanding review process. Each of these articles contributes important insights to our understanding of institutional entrepreneurship and, collectively, they provide an important benchmark for subsequent research on this phenomenon. In different ways, they explore how actors shape emerging institutions and transform existing ones despite the complexities and path dependences that are involved. In doing so, they shed considerable light on how institutional entrepreneurship processes shape ‐ or fail to shape ‐ the world in which we live and work The term institutional entrepreneurship refers to the ‘activities of actors who have an interest in particular institutional arrangements and who leverage resources to create new institutions or to transform existing ones’ (Maguire, Hardy and Lawrence, 2004: 657). The term is most closely associated with DiMaggio (1988: 14), who argued that ‘new institutions arise when organized actors with sufficient resources see in them an opportunity to realize interests that they value highly’. These actors ‐ institutional entrepreneurs ‐ ‘create a whole new system of meaning that ties the functioning of disparate sets of institutions together’ (Garud, Jain and Kumaraswamy, 2002). Institutional entrepreneurship is therefore a concept that reintroduces agency, interests and power into institutional analyses of organizations. It thus offers promise to researchers seeking to bridge what have come to be called the ‘old’ and ‘new’ institutionalisms in organizational analysis (Powell and DiMaggio, 1991; Greenwood and Hinings, 1996). We preface these papers with some of our own observations on institutional entrepreneurship stemming from its paradoxical nature. Research on institutions has tended to emphasize how organizational processes are shaped by institutional forces that reinforce continuity and reward conformity. In contrast, the literature on entrepreneurship tends to emphasize how organizational processes
1,074 citations
TL;DR: The authors hypothesize that person descriptive terms can be organized into the broad dimensions of agency and communion of which communion is the primary one, and that agency is predicted by self- Profitability and communion by other-profitability.
Abstract: On the basis of previous research, the authors hypothesize that (a) person descriptive terms can be organized into the broad dimensions of agency and communion of which communion is the primary one; (b) the main distinction between these dimensions pertains to their profitability for the self (agency) vs. for other persons (communion); hence, agency is more desirable and important in the self-perspective, and communion is more desirable and important in the other-perspective; (c) self–other outcome dependency increases importance of another person’s agency. Study 1 showed that a large number of trait names can be reduced to these broad dimensions, that communion comprises more item variance, and that agency is predicted by self-profitability and communion by other-profitability. Studies 2 and 3 showed that agency is more relevant and desired for self, and communion is more relevant and desired for others. Study 4 showed that agency is more important in a close friend than an unrelated peer, and this difference is completely mediated by the perceived outcome dependency.
896 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that family firms have larger analyst following, more informative analysts' forecasts, and smaller bid-ask spreads than non-family firms, and that these characteristics of family firms affect their corporate disclosure practices.
Abstract: Compared to non-family firms, family firms face less severe agency problems due to the separation of ownership and management, but more severe agency problems that arise between controlling and non-controlling shareholders. These characteristics of family firms affect their corporate disclosure practices. For S&P 500 firms, we show that family firms report better quality earnings, are more likely to warn for a given magnitude of bad news, but make fewer disclosures about their corporate governance practices. Consistent with family firms making better financial disclosures, we find that family firms have larger analyst following, more informative analysts' forecasts, and smaller bid-ask spreads.
872 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a particular notion of agency is used that enables agency to be conceived as something that is achieved, rather than possessed, through the active engagement of individuals with aspects of their contexts-for-action.
Abstract: This paper is a contribution to understanding the relationship between agency and learning in the lifecourse. The contribution is mainly of a theoretical and a conceptual nature in that a particular notion of agency is used that enables agency to be conceived as something that is achieved, rather than possessed, through the active engagement of individuals with aspects of their contexts-for-action. We refer to this as an ecological understanding of agency. On the part of the actor, such engagements are characterised by particular configurations of routine, purpose and judgement. The argument is made that learning about the particular composition of one's agentic orientations and how they play out in one's life can play an important role in the achievement of agency, and that life-narratives, stories about one's life, can be an important vehicle for such learning. We explore the potential of this approach through a discussion of aspects of the learning (auto-) biographies of two participants in the...
631 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the theory of political control and government agency discretion in the United States, and define the definition of agency discretion and roles of players in determination of policy.
Abstract: Focuses on the theory of political control and government agency discretion in the United States. Process of policy execution; Definition of agency discretion; Roles of players in determination of policy.
508 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors take a social behaviorist approach to the concept of agency and suggest that individual temporal orientations are underutilized in conceptualizing this core sociological concept.
Abstract: The term “agency” is quite slippery and is used differently depending on the epistemological roots and goals of scholars who employ it. Distressingly, the sociological literature on the concept rarely addresses relevant social psychological research. We take a social behaviorist approach to agency by suggesting that individual temporal orientations are underutilized in conceptualizing this core sociological concept. Different temporal foci—the actor's engaged response to situational circumstances—implicate different forms of agency. This article offers a theoretical model involving four analytical types of agency (“existential,” “identity,” “pragmatic,” and “life course”) that are often conflated across treatments of the topic. Each mode of agency overlaps with established social psychological literatures, most notably about the self, enabling scholars to anchor overly abstract treatments of agency within established research literatures.
495 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative analysis identified four critical generative elements: socialized agency, differentiated expertise, defensible turf, and organizational support for knowledge-based innovative structures to emerge and embed.
Abstract: How do innovative knowledge-based structures emerge and become embedded in organizations? We drew on theories of knowledge-intensive firms, communities of practice, and professional service firms to analyze multiple cases of new practice area creation in management consulting firms. Our qualitative analysis identified four critical generative elements: socialized agency, differentiated expertise, defensible turf, and organizational support. We demonstrate that these elements must be combined in specific pathways for knowledge-based innovative structures to emerge and embed. These pathways emerge from practitioner networks, markets for knowledge-based services, and professional firms' hierarchies. Our findings have important implications for studying innovation in the knowledge-based economy.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors summarized the outcome of an international partnership initiative on indicators for sustainable energy development that aims to provide an analytical tool for assessing current energy production and use patterns at a national level.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that role expectations have the potential to both enable and constrain middle manager strategic agency, and propose a reciprocal view of strategic role expectations, which elucidates the tensions between dialogue, legitimacy and rationality within a set of strategic roles.
Abstract: Based on an analysis of 262 interviews, I argue that role expectations have the potential to both enable and constrain middle manager strategic agency. To explain why the same role expectations have contradictory effects on agency, I analyse enabling conditions corresponding to four strategic role expectations, based on Floyd and Wooldridge's work on middle manager roles. After presenting eight enabling conditions for strategic agency, specific to the four role expectations, I argue that the dominant functionalist view of strategic roles should be augmented from a middle manager viewpoint. I suggest a reciprocal view of strategic role expectations, which elucidates the tensions between dialogue, legitimacy and rationality within a set of strategic roles.
Book•
10 Aug 2007
TL;DR: Unterhalter et al. as mentioned in this paper discussed the potential of the capability approach in education and its potential for work in education, as well as the application of the approach in the field of education.
Abstract: The Capability Approach: Its Potential for Work in Education M.Walker & E.Unterhalter PART I: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE CAPABILITY APPROACH AND EDUCATION Education as a Basic Capability L.Terzi Situating Education in the Human Capabilities Approach P.Flores-Crespo Developing Capabilities and the Management of Trust R.Bates Distribution of What for Achieving Equality in Education? The Case of Education for All E.Unterhalter & H.Brighouse Needs, Rights and Capabilities - E.Unterhalter PART II: APPLICATIONS OF THE CAPABILITY APPROACH IN EDUCATION Freedom through Education: Measuring Capabilities in Girls' Schooling R.Vaughan Education and Capabilities in Bangladesh J.Raynor South African Girls' Lives and Capabilities M.Walker Children's Valued Capabilities M.Biggeri Higher Education and Well Being L.Deprez & S.Butler PART III: TAKING THE CAPABILITY APPROACH FORWARD IN EDUCATION Education, Agency and Social Justice E.Unterhalter & M.Walker
TL;DR: In this article, a short list of internationally comparable indicators of individual agency and empowerment (and corresponding survey questions) is proposed to explore research and policy issues such as the interconnections between empowerment and economic or human development.
Abstract: This article proposes a short list of internationally comparable indicators of individual agency and empowerment (and the corresponding survey questions) Data from these indicators would enable researchers to explore research and policy issues such as the interconnections between empowerment and economic or human development The paper surveys definitions of agency and empowerment and adopts the definition from Amartya Sen, supplemented by Rowlands' typology The proposed “shortlist” of indicators includes: control over personal decisions; domain-specific autonomy; household decision-making; and the ability to change aspects in one's life at the individual and communal levels The strengths and weaknesses of each indicator are discussed, as is the need to supplement this shortlist with other variables To ensure the feasibility of the proposal, we rely on previously fielded questions wherever possible
01 Jan 2007
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors predict that multinational enterprises will rely more heavily on parent country nationals as cultural distance increases and that this reliance will weaken over time, and that a positive effect of expatriate staffing on subsidiary performance increases with cultural distance but decreases over time.
Abstract: How likely are multinational enterprises (MNEs) to use expatriate parent country nationals to staff culturally distant subsidiaries? How does their employment affect subsidiary performance? The agency theory prediction is that MNEs will rely more heavily on parent country nationals as cultural distance increases and that this reliance will weaken over time. Both agency theory and the "resource-based view" suggest tha a positive effect of expatriate staffing on subsidiary performance increases with cultural distance but decreases over time. Results largely supported the predictions in data on Japanese foreign subsidiaries.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors model foreign-aid-for-policy deals, assuming that leaders want to maximize their time in office, and their actions are shaped by two political institutions, their selectorate and winning coalition.
Abstract: We model foreign-aid-for-policy deals, assuming that leaders want to maximize their time in office. Their actions are shaped by two political institutions, their selectorate and winning coalition. Leaders who depend on a large coalition, a relatively small selectorate, and who extract valuable policy concessions from prospective recipients are likely to give aid. Prospective recipients are likely to get aid if they have few resources, depend on a small coalition and a large selectorate, and the policy concession sought by the donor is not too politically costly. The amount of aid received, if any, increases as the recipient leader’s coalition increases, the selectorate decreases, the issue’s salience increases, and the domestic resources increase. The theory explains why many Third World people hate the United States and want to live there. Empirical tests using the U.S. Agency for International Development data for the post‐World War II years support the model’s predictions.
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: The authors introduced the notion of imagined communities as a way to better understand the relationship between second language learning and identity, arguing that language learners' actual and desired memberships in imagined communities affect their learning trajectories, influencing their agency, motivation, investment, and resistance in the learning of English.
Abstract: This chapter introduces the notion of imagined communities as a way to better understand the relationship between second language learning and identity. It is argued that language learners’ actual and desired memberships in imagined communities affect their learning trajectories, influencing their agency, motivation, investment, and resistance in the learning of English. These influences are exemplified with regard to five identity clusters: postcolonial, global, ethnic, multilingual, and gendered identities. During the course of this discussion, we consider the relevance of imagined communities for classroom practice in English education.
TL;DR: The authors examines the relevance of the two main theories used to understand business format franchising (resource scarcity theory and agency theory) for social venture franchising through an in-depth analysis.
Abstract: This article examines the relevance of the two main theories used to understand business format franchising—resource scarcity theory and agency theory—for social venture franchising through an in–d...
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TL;DR: This paper focused on women's formal political participation and representation, and discussed both traditional explanations for women's political participation, such as supply of women and the demand for women, and newer explanations such as the role of international actors and gender quotas.
Abstract: Women’s political participation and representation vary dramatically within and between countries. We selectively review the literature on gender in politics, focusing on women’s formal political participation. We discuss both traditional explanations for women’s political participation and representation, such as the supply of women and the demand for women, and newer explanations such as the role of international actors and gender quotas. We also ask whether women are distinctive—does having more women in office make a difference to public policy? Throughout the review we demonstrate that a full understanding of women’s political representation requires both deep knowledge of individual cases such as the United States and broad knowledge comparing women’s participation across countries. We end with four recommended directions for future research: (a) globalizing theory and research, (b) expanding data collection, (c) remembering alternative forms of women’s agency, and (d ) addressing intersectionality.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the development of a series of Anglo-German studies on how young adults experience control and exercise personal agency as they pass through periods of transition in education and training, work, unemployment and in their personal lives.
Abstract: This paper traces the development of a series of Anglo-German studies on how young adults experience control and exercise personal agency as they pass through periods of transition in education and training, work, unemployment and in their personal lives. The overarching aim has been to develop an extended dialogue between ideas and evidence to explore the beliefs and actions associated with life-chances under differing structural and cultural conditions. What kinds of beliefs and perspectives do people have on their future possibilities? How far do they feel in control of their lives? How does what people believe is possible for them (their personal horizons developed within cultural and structural influences) determine their behaviours and what they perceive to be 'choices'? This research contributes to the re-conceptualisation of agency as a process in which past habits and routines are contextualised and future possibilities envisaged with in the contingencies of the present moment. The paper concludes by explaining the concept of ;bounded agency' as an alternative to 'structured individualisation' as a way of understanding the experiences of people in changing social landscapes.
TL;DR: Delegation and Agency in International Organizations as discussed by the authors examines and exemplifies the usefulness of principal-agent theory for the study of international relations through a set of well-integrated analyses of delegation to international (governmental) organizations.
Abstract: Delegation and Agency in International Organizations. Edited by Darren G. Hawkins, David A. Lake, Daniel L. Nielson, and Michael J. Tierney. 424p. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. $80.00 cloth, $34.99 paper. This volume examines and exemplifies the usefulness of principal-agent (P-A) theory for the study of international relations through a set of well-integrated analyses of delegation to international (governmental) organizations (IOs). The editors begin with some useful, explicit definitions of key terms. They define delegation as a revocable “grant of authority” from one or more “principal(s)” to an “agent,” which enables “the latter to act on behalf of the former” in a specified domain and/or for a limited period of time. The agent's discretion in how to pursue the principal's objectives is a direct inverse function of the precision of the rules laid down by the principal. Agent autonomy, by contrast, is defined as the possible range of actions the agent can take contrary to the principal's interests, net whatever mechanism the principal may have put in place to control the agent. To the extent that an agent actually pursues his own interests contrary to the principal's, we see agency slack.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use Bourdieu's social philosophy and social theory to address some of the most pressing issues of our times, including the problematic of theorizing social agency, the relationship of social movements and especially women's movements to social change, the politics of cultural authorization, the theorization of technological forms of embodiment, the relations of affect to the political, and the articulation of principles of what might be termed a new feminist materialism.
Abstract: How might Bourdieu's social philosophy and social theory be of use to feminism? And how might it relate to - or possibly even fruitfully reframe - the ongoing problematics and current theoretical issues of feminism? In this volume contributors will use, critique, critically extend and develop Bourdieu's social theory to address some of the most pressing issues of our times. And in so doing they will address both ongoing and key contemporary problematics in contemporary feminist theory. These include the problematic of theorizing social agency (and especially the problematic of social versus performative agency); the issue of the relationship of social movements (and especially women's movements) to social change; the politics of cultural authorization; the theorization of technological forms of embodiment (that is the theorization of embodiment post bounded conceptions of the body); the relations of affect to the political; and the articulation of principles of what might be termed a new feminist materialism which goes beyond Bourdieu's own social logics.
TL;DR: A statewide qualitative study of personal and organizational factors contributing to employees' decisions to either remain or leave employment in child welfare is described in this paper, identifying factors related to employee retention.
TL;DR: The PEER license agreement as mentioned in this paper provides a nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches, and beschränktes Recht auf Nutzungsbedingungen.
Abstract: Nutzungsbedingungen: Dieser Text wird unter dem \"PEER Licence Agreement zur Verfügung\" gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zum PEER-Projekt finden Sie hier: http://www.peerproject.eu Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an. Terms of use: This document is made available under the \"PEER Licence Agreement \". For more Information regarding the PEER-project see: http://www.peerproject.eu This document is solely intended for your personal, non-commercial use.All of the copies of this documents must retain all copyright information and other information regarding legal protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the document in public. By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated conditions of use.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on two institutionalist traditions in organization theory which make a significant contribution to this discussion: new institutionalism and the business-systems approach, emphasizing the adaptation of organizations to their institutional environments but come to very different conclusions as to the global standardization of organizational forms and management practices.
Abstract: The debate as to the effects of globalization on organizational forms and management practices is well known. Our paper focuses on two institutionalist traditions in organization theory which make a significant contribution to this discussion: new institutionalism and the business-systems approach. Both emphasize the adaptation of organizations to their institutional environments but come to very different conclusions as to the global standardization of organizational forms and management practices. Our paper aims to move them beyond the convergence-divergence dichotomy to account for signs of both global standardization and continued persistence of national differences. We do so by systematically comparing the two traditions, suggesting how they can be cross-fertilized and developing an agenda for future empirical research. We also highlight that they cannot learn from each other on the issue of agency and point to structuration theory as a way in which they can integrate agency into their accounts of the global standardization debate.
TL;DR: This article argued that African-American and Latina/o youth respond to community and school conditions through civic engagement facilitated by community-based organizations, such as youth organizing, spoken word, volunteering, and participation in civic affairs.
Abstract: Research on African‐American and Latina/o youth has been dominated by studies that focus on ‘problem’ adolescent behavior. Typically, they explain youth crime, delinquency, and violence as individual pathological behavior or cultural adaptations stemming from social disorganization in their communities. This article argues for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between youth‐serving organizations and youth agency in urban communities, which can avoid the pitfall of focusing on the most egregious activities among youth. Rather, it is argued that African‐American and Latina/o youth respond to community and school conditions through civic engagement facilitated by community‐based organizations. Urban youth collectively respond to community and school problems through youth organizing, spoken word, volunteering, and participation in civic affairs. Organizations in urban communities can provide youth with opportunities to develop critical civic praxis through engagement with ideas, social network...
TL;DR: An alternative framework for what recovery might mean is provided, one drawn from disability studies and Sen's capabilities approach, which could convert flaccid doctrine into useful guidelines and tools for public mental health.
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of the private sector in tourism development in Southern Lao PDR is discussed in some detail, especially the Nam Ha Ecotourism Project, and is compared briefly with the role that private sector has played in the development of tourism development.
Abstract: Tourism as a tool for development was first mooted in the 1970s. Recently, focus has been on the role of ecotourism, pro-poor tourism and community-based tourism (CBT). This has been so in Lao People's Democratic Republic, where international tourism is a vital source of foreign exchange and employment and an important feature of the government's poverty-alleviation strategy. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) finances many infrastructural projects facilitating tourist movement in the Lower Mekong Basin, and with the Lao Government and the Netherlands Development Agency (SNV) is a key player in donor-assisted, community-based tourism (DACBT). The development of DACBT in Lao PDR is discussed in some detail, especially the Nam Ha Ecotourism Project, and is compared briefly with the role of the private sector in tourism development in Southern Lao PDR. It is concluded that while DACBT projects can indeed alleviate poverty and develop financial and cultural capital, private sector tourism enterprises also have ...