Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
How do privileged insiders become change agents? A study of institutional volition
While we have a sense of why institutionally marginalized individuals or dominant actors become change agents, it is less clear what motivates privileged insiders - those who have reaped advantages from existing institutional arrangements because of their education, their socio-economic background,...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Graduate School of Business (GSB)
2021
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867613169509203968 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Feront, Cecile |
| author2 | Bertels, Stephanie |
| author_browse | Bertels, Stephanie Feront, Cecile |
| author_facet | Bertels, Stephanie Feront, Cecile |
| author_sort | Feront, Cecile |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | While we have a sense of why institutionally marginalized individuals or dominant actors become change agents, it is less clear what motivates privileged insiders - those who have reaped advantages from existing institutional arrangements because of their education, their socio-economic background, their citizenship, their gender, or their race. I combine a symbolic interactionist perspective on social conduct with a structural perspective on frames to explore the process of institutional volition and the conditions under which privileged insiders may become engaged in different types of institutional change work to address societal issues. Institutional volition is the reflective process leading people to engage in purposeful efforts to shape or transform dominant institutional arrangements. My study reveals variances in the institutional volition of privileged insiders that explains why some of these actors engage in work to repair institutions, while others engage in work to transform them, either disrupting or creating institutions. My study draws attention to the distinct role of feelings rather than emotions in determining whether and how privileged insiders engage in institutional change work. It also suggests that these actors commit to transformative change when they acknowledge their complicity in the perpetuation of institutional injustices. Finally, I show that privileged insiders need to reframe their role in order to use it as a resource to engage in institutional disruption or creation work. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33660 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:52.071Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Graduate School of Business (GSB) |
| publisherStr | Graduate School of Business (GSB) |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33660 How do privileged insiders become change agents? A study of institutional volition Feront, Cecile Bertels, Stephanie Hamann, Ralph institutional volition education socio-economic background While we have a sense of why institutionally marginalized individuals or dominant actors become change agents, it is less clear what motivates privileged insiders - those who have reaped advantages from existing institutional arrangements because of their education, their socio-economic background, their citizenship, their gender, or their race. I combine a symbolic interactionist perspective on social conduct with a structural perspective on frames to explore the process of institutional volition and the conditions under which privileged insiders may become engaged in different types of institutional change work to address societal issues. Institutional volition is the reflective process leading people to engage in purposeful efforts to shape or transform dominant institutional arrangements. My study reveals variances in the institutional volition of privileged insiders that explains why some of these actors engage in work to repair institutions, while others engage in work to transform them, either disrupting or creating institutions. My study draws attention to the distinct role of feelings rather than emotions in determining whether and how privileged insiders engage in institutional change work. It also suggests that these actors commit to transformative change when they acknowledge their complicity in the perpetuation of institutional injustices. Finally, I show that privileged insiders need to reframe their role in order to use it as a resource to engage in institutional disruption or creation work. 2021-07-29T13:09:01Z 2021-07-29T13:09:01Z 2021 2021-07-29T12:47:45Z Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33660 eng application/pdf Graduate School of Business (GSB) Faculty of Commerce |
| spellingShingle | institutional volition education socio-economic background Feront, Cecile How do privileged insiders become change agents? A study of institutional volition |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | How do privileged insiders become change agents? A study of institutional volition |
| title_full | How do privileged insiders become change agents? A study of institutional volition |
| title_fullStr | How do privileged insiders become change agents? A study of institutional volition |
| title_full_unstemmed | How do privileged insiders become change agents? A study of institutional volition |
| title_short | How do privileged insiders become change agents? A study of institutional volition |
| title_sort | how do privileged insiders become change agents a study of institutional volition |
| topic | institutional volition education socio-economic background |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33660 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ferontcecile howdoprivilegedinsidersbecomechangeagentsastudyofinstitutionalvolition |