Mind and Matter: The Coevolution of Technology and Institutional Logic in Field Transformation

Abstract

Research examining field level transformation is generally fragmented into literature either focusing on patterns of change in the socio-cognitive evolution of institutional logic or in the materiality of technological innovations. We seek to bridge these growing, but largely independent streams of inquiry by developing a co-evolutionary model where logic construction and technological innovation interact to escalate or constrain field level transformation. We first synthesize institutional logic and technological transition literatures into a compatible framework with complementary stages across de-institutionalization and re-institutionalization. Drawing on several historical examples, we then build propositions to explain how socio-cognitive and technological change pathways interact with each other enable or constrain field transformation. Our co-evolutionary theory of field transformation bridges disparate literatures examining a common phenomenon and advances understanding of factors driving the pace and scope of field transformation.