Reconciling agency and context in the dynamics of institutional change

Abstract

This essay introduce an analytical structure that seeks reconciling elements of agency and context in the analysis of institutional change dynamics. The framework is based on the interconnection between the institutional work and gradual institutional change approaches. Both were created as alternatives to theoretical perspectives that put too much emphasis on social structure (e.g. path dependence theory) or to human agency (e.g. institutional entrepreneurship). However, despite the analytical gains that both of them have brought to the study of institutional change, they are still strongly tied to the assumptions of the research traditions through which they have emerged. A rapprochement between such theoretical schemes allows greater rigor to investigate processes of institutional change and enables greater awareness of the assumptions inherent to each perspective, as well as it encourages the search for more balanced alternatives for explaining institutional maintenance and change. At the heart of this proposal, there is a search for understanding the dynamics of institutional life. The institutional context exhibits a certain level of institutional plasticity and it can be modified according to the availability of practices, meanings, and resources. Therealization of this potential for change is dependent on institutional actors' reflexivity levels, and their munificence of resources. The practices of institutional creation, maintenance, and disruption in a particular context will, therefore, result from the interaction between the institutional context characteristics (the level of institutional plasticity) and the types of institutional actors (the level of institutional discretion) involved.

Keywords:
Institutional work; Gradual institutional change; Agency; Reflexivity; Institutional context