TY - JOUR
T1 - Actors, agency, and institutional contexts
T2 - transition intermediation for low-carbon mobility transition
AU - Nordt, Alexander
AU - Raven, Rob
AU - Malekpour, Shirin
AU - Sharp, Darren
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/4
Y1 - 2024/4
N2 - Transition intermediaries are recognized as key actors in sustainability transitions. While the structural embeddedness of intermediaries has been explored in innovation studies and economic geography literature, few transition studies have systematically examined how the agency of transition intermediaries is affected by institutional contexts. Without a deeper understanding of this interplay, the literature risks a naive perception of transition intermediaries as free agents. This study investigates transition intermediation in diverse institutional contexts using a typology of organizational fields that draws on institutional theory. Cases of local government commitments to fleet electrification and cycling infrastructure show that crises allow incumbent organizations to diverge from existing institutional arrangements and intermediate for systems change. Findings also indicate that the social position of transition intermediaries in a field can mute the enabling effect of crises on transition intermediation. Similarly, findings show that transition intermediaries can legitimize their visions for systems change by using collective action framing to draw attention to conflict between existing institutions to diverge from existing institutional arrangements. As such, this study provides new insight into conditions affecting the agency of transition intermediaries for low-carbon mobility transition.
AB - Transition intermediaries are recognized as key actors in sustainability transitions. While the structural embeddedness of intermediaries has been explored in innovation studies and economic geography literature, few transition studies have systematically examined how the agency of transition intermediaries is affected by institutional contexts. Without a deeper understanding of this interplay, the literature risks a naive perception of transition intermediaries as free agents. This study investigates transition intermediation in diverse institutional contexts using a typology of organizational fields that draws on institutional theory. Cases of local government commitments to fleet electrification and cycling infrastructure show that crises allow incumbent organizations to diverge from existing institutional arrangements and intermediate for systems change. Findings also indicate that the social position of transition intermediaries in a field can mute the enabling effect of crises on transition intermediation. Similarly, findings show that transition intermediaries can legitimize their visions for systems change by using collective action framing to draw attention to conflict between existing institutions to diverge from existing institutional arrangements. As such, this study provides new insight into conditions affecting the agency of transition intermediaries for low-carbon mobility transition.
KW - Ecology of intermediaries
KW - Electric vehicle fleet
KW - Institutional entrepreneur
KW - Pop-up cycleway
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185790617&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103707
DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103707
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85185790617
SN - 1462-9011
VL - 154
JO - Environmental Science and Policy
JF - Environmental Science and Policy
M1 - 103707
ER -