Strategic Action Fields Research Articles

Regulating capital investment in urban property: towards comparative-historical research in planning history

ABSTRACT This paper makes three main contributions: First, we argue that spatial planning institutions have become fundamental ‘rules of the game’ regulating development and defining urban property rights, and that the differences of approach between places can best be explained as a product of historical processes of institutional development. Second, we introduce a historical institutionalist theory of contested institutional development based on concepts of critical junctures of major institutional change followed by reactive sequences of institutional contestation in strategic action fields. We outline a methodologically institutionalist research method designed to produce replicable comparative research of long-run processes of institutional change, based on historical narratives employing process-tracing of institutional change and examination of permissive and productive factors structuring such change. This approach generates clear research questions and supports causal analysis of processes and mechanisms of change in urban property systems to explain why current institutions take the form they do. Third we illustrate the theory and research method with the case of Toronto, a fast-growing city where property rights and obligations and development control regulations have been vigorously contested. The conclusions explore the implications for planning theory and for comparative-historical research of this analysis of institutional change processes and mechanisms.

Self-governance of condominiums in urban China: A strategic action field perspective

This paper investigates the impact of homeowners’ condominium self-governance on neighbourhood governance in urban China. The self-governance campaign, which advocates for the direct employment of property management personnel, signifies condominium owners’ endeavours to reassert control over their private living space against the intervention of the state and the exploitation of property management agents. Whilst self-governance is practised within specific walled neighbourhoods, homeowners’ efforts to amplify the influence of this campaign have brought it beyond the mere selection of a property management model. Employing the strategic action field approach, this paper identifies the key actors and specific forces that shape China’s condominium and neighbourhood governance. It also explores the potential political risks associated with the self-governance campaign and how it changes the power dynamics within the neighbourhood governance structure. The research findings not only illustrate the versatility of the strategic action field approach in analysing the various aspects of condominiums and private neighbourhood governance in urban China but also extend current understanding of the interplay among homeowners’ organisations, market agents and state actors and reveal relevant implications for neighbourhood governance in urban China.

The Challenger's Social Skills: Bengkalis Panglong Business

This article focuses on the social skills possessed by the challengers, in this case, charcoal panglong (a place for wood processing and charcoal production) owners, entrepreneurs, and their workers who are able to survive the regulations on the utilization of mangrove forests. The battle in this field began in the days of the Dutch government. The purpose of this study is 1) to reveal how the contestation of stability and change in the charcoal panglong business in Bengkalis. 2) to analyze the social skills possessed by the owner of the charcoal panglong and his workers, hereinafter referred to as challengers, in maintaining the existence of his business until now. The ability to maintain the charcoal panglong business and its business existence. A series of research studies using a qualitative approach, using interviews and observations, were conducted by the author to reveal a series of strategic action fields in the forestry business. The findings obtained show that challengers have always competed with incumbents (mangrove forest policies and regulations) and governance units for a long time. This field contestation has occurred since 1853, starting from the time the Dutch government established a panglong in Bengkalis to meet the demand for wood and charcoal from Singapore and Malaysia. The challenger always maintains its business existence by fulfilling all obligations as a holder of a community forest license granted by the president and also as a charcoal export license holder to Malaysia; of course, to meet these export needs, another skill it has is maintaining a stable supply of charcoal for export. The patron client relationship is one of the challenger's skills in maintaining good relations with the local community and its workers. The market field analysis using Fligstein and McAdam's Field Theory of Strategic Action Field (SAF) helps explore the elements of social skills in SAF so that the structure of stability and change in the forestry charcoal panglong business arena can be illustrated more clearly.

Boundary Work in the Nordic Media Model: Metajournalistic Discourse on Alternative Media in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

ABSTRACT The increasing prominence of alternative news media has been identified as a particular challenge to contemporary established journalism, next to collapsing financial models, platform dependency, falling levels of trust and increased competition. Against this background, this study examines how news editors from 23 established news organizations in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark view the rise and role of alternative news media and thereby the boundaries of the journalistic field. Combining strategic action field theory, boundary work and the concept of metajournalistic discourse, it identifies three metajournalistic discourses—We are the (real) journalists, We are in control (for now), and We are under pressure. Together, these metajournalistic discourses portray alternative news media as a challenge that largely has been overcome, and as currently insignificant actors that clearly do not represent “real journalism”. At the same time, the discourses also display concerns that alternative news media might represent potential future field ruptures via their association with broader potentially detrimental media developments, such as genre-confused media audiences or harassment of journalists.

Making “Enemies”: Industry‐State Subterfuge and US Fair Trade Practices Towards Non‐Market Economies Since 1960

AbstractStudies on US “non‐market economy” (NME) antidumping (AD) policy frame its origins as either an ideological relic of the Cold War or as a case of regulatory capture informed by strategic filing patterns. While these insights are invaluable, they do not address the underlying social processes which inform the creation of economic concepts in the first instance. NME policy evolved out of the legal‐discursive tactics employed by the US steel industry hoping to receive relief from imports, and a US state which had to simultaneously provide a form of protection to the steel industry and maintain an international commitment to free trade. Steel and the state used legal subterfuge to achieve these goals. Accordingly, NME policy developed from the institutional struggle between two stakeholders in a strategic action field.

Politics of International Labor Migration and the Survival of (Illegal) Brokers in Indonesia

Indonesian labor migration is a multifaceted process heavily influenced by private actors, particularly brokers who operate both within the bounds of legality as recruitment agencies and outside it as illicit recruiters. These brokers are frequently accused of exploiting Indonesian migrant workers, leading to government efforts to limit their roles. However, despite legislative efforts, such as the 2017 law aimed at restricting the roles of labor-recruiting companies and illegal brokers, these intermediaries persist. Drawing on the concept of brokerage and the Theory of Strategic Action Field, this article explains why brokers remain despite legislative challenges. This study also argues that state regulations inadvertently create structural holes, thereby providing brokers with opportunities to maintain their involvement in labor migration. Through 56 in-depth interviews with various actors—including current and former migrant workers, recruiters, recruitment agencies, civil society organizations (CSOs), and government officials—the study illuminates how the Indonesian government’s framing of "procedural migration” contains inherent loopholes. Brokers then exploited these gaps to legitimize their presence and assert control over workers’ destinies. These brokers adeptly adapt to regulatory changes and influence migration.

Analysis of Bureacracy Downsizing in Indonesia by Using Strategic Action Field Framework

Introduction: The purpose of this article is to find out how the strategic action field capacity of the Indonesian bureaucracy on bureaucratic simplification has been implemented. Literature Review: The meaning of delayering, with reference to such metaphors, is commonly taken to describe the planned vertical compression of various levels of the managerial hierarchy, including the wholesale removal of one or more levels of managerial or supervisory staff from an organization's personnel roster. (Keuning and Opheij, 1994; Miller and Longair, 1985; Wheatley, 1992). Method: This research uses qualitative research through primary data collection through interviews and secondary data through literature study. Result and Discussion: The results show that bureaucratic simplification has not been proven effective in improving the performance of the bureaucracy in Indonesia, it is still only at the stage of fulfilling administrative obligations. Conclusions: Key findings as novelty in studies related to implementation of bureaucratic policy researchers with locus Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministries of Religion, Ministry for Rural and Rural Development of the Remnant, and Ministries for State Apparatus Disclosure and Reforms The bureaucracy suggests that organizational capacity must be derived from individual capacity, as the primary capital of an organization before making organizational change.

Understanding and supporting change in health systems using the strategic action fields framework: the availability and origin of sources of authority

ABSTRACT Policy-driven change in public service systems is difficult to implement. We focus upon ‘sources of authority’, which figure within the Strategic Action Fields Framework (SAFF) as resources mobilized by socially skilled actors to catalyse and sustain change. Drawing on qualitative case studies evaluating a large-scale policy-driven change in the English NHS, the Vanguard New Care Models programme, we (1) expand the definitions of ‘sources of authority’ and (2) argue that ‘sources of authority’ vary across two intersecting dimensions. This expands the utility of the SAFF beyond understanding and evaluating policy impact, and offers practical opportunities for achieving change.

Digital Mass Hysteria during Pandemic? A Study of Twitter Communication Patterns in the US during the Stages of COVID-19 Vaccination.

This study examined the public's sentiments about vaccines by analyzing Twitter data during the CDC's vaccination management planning stage in the United States. Sentiment scores were assigned to each tweet using a sentiment dictionary and the sentiment changes were analyzed over 52 weeks from November 2020 to November 2021. An interrupted time series model was used to analyze the difference in sentiment, which revealed that there was a shift. Initially, overall sentiments were negative but became positive as the stage of general vaccine supply approached. However, negative sentiments sharply rose when the vaccine supply transitioned to the phase of universalization. The results identified two dominant strategic action fields for vaccines providing polarized messages on Twitter and the negative trend was strong for most of the period. The findings highlight the importance of managing strategic action fields on social networks to prevent mass hysteria during vaccine policy implementation. This study stresses the significance of effectively managing strategic action fields on social media platforms to prevent mass hysteria while implementing vaccine policies.

An Uneasy Peace: How STEM Progressive, Traditionalist, and Bridging Faculty Understand Campus Conflicts over Diversity, Anti-Racism, and Free Expression

In recent years an uneasy peace has descended in U.S. academe between those who feel research universities have done too little to advance the representation of minority groups and women and those who feel that the administrative policies developed to improve representation can and sometimes do come into conflict with core intellectual commitments of universities. Using quantitative and qualitative evidence from interviews with 47 natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics faculty members at a U.S. research university, the paper examines the background characteristics of three sets of protagonists - academic progressives, academic traditionalists, and those whose views bridge the divide - and the way respondents discussed and justified their viewpoints. The paper draws on the theory of strategic action fields to illuminate the structure and dynamics of the conflict and suggests modifications to the theory that would improve its explanatory power for this case.

Conflicts over public value within public service ecosystems: a strategic action field approach

ABSTRACT In this paper, strategic action field theory and public value theory are utilized to develop knowledge about conflicts over public value in public service ecosystems (PSEs), with disabled people’s striving for independent living serving as an illustration. Five propositions are developed to show how conflicts in PSEs i) are centred around public value, ii) occur between incumbents and challengers, iii) implicate social skills, iv) are triggered by exogenous shocks, and v) eventually settle. This paper also responds to calls for research on theory building about PSEs by integrating public value with public service logic (PSL) and conceptualizing power in PSL.

Plural(Is)Me: Mungkinkah Kita Bersaudara? Merangkai Gerakan Persaudaraan Sebagai Arena Bersama, Belajar dari Jaringan Gusdurian

In the midst of inter-religious segregation, there are several inter-faith movements. Apparently, the movement developed over time. One of the interfaith movements currently present in implementing the values of fraternity is Jaringan Gusdurian. The presence of Jaringan Gusdurian gives a new color to the interfaith movement, because of this group move actively in fighting for justice, defending minority groups and carrying out peace campaigns. In its implementation, this group also prioritizes human values wrapped in interfaith movements.This article will specifically discuss the brotherhood movement as a common arena, learning from Jaringan Gudurian, using the perspective of Strategic Action Fields theory, where this theory explains the fields or arenas that gives a new possibility through the role of social actors. Through this theory, a guide will be founded to find out models of fraternal movements in Jaringan Gusdurian which are models of fraternal movements in living together.

Coalitions and repertories in the strategic action field of the people affected by the Rio Doce disaster

The collapse of the Fundão dam of the Samarco, Vale, and BPH Billiton mining companies in 2015 resulted in the spillage of unprecedented tailings in the Rio Doce Basin, Brazil. It was a disaster of multiple dimensions, generating conflicts between the affected community, mining companies, the government, and the justice system in the search for solutions to recover and repair the damage. Meanwhile, a governance system was created to conduct disaster responses and conflict resolution between those actors. In this article, we investigate how skilled actors in the affected field act to influence disaster governance by producing consequences for policy decisions. The analysis highlights the role of coalitions and action repertories in cooperative and conflicting relationships in the affected people's field. Through mixed-method research, four years of the socio-environmental disaster (2015–2019) were examined through interviews with activists, documentary research, and analysis of protest events. The main argument is that the mobilization of non-state actors in the affected field has influenced disaster governance and the content of compensation policies. Mobilization combined social skills and action repertoires and formed political coalitions to influence decision-making processes. The article contributes to expanding the understanding of the dynamics of political disputes among non-state actors, proposing to broaden the understanding of the repertoires of non-state actors in coalitions to generate consequences for political decisions.

Understanding strategies for digital government transformation: A strategic action fields perspective

Digital technologies are transforming public service provision by affecting governments, technology vendors, and citizens, as well as their interactions. However, digital government transformation (DGT) is complex and challenging, with governments often lacking clear strategic adjustments during their digital journeys. This study discusses six strategic factors, including business environment, digital infrastructure, financial capability, innovation capability, information security, and public demand, and identifies the configurations that lead to a significant increase in digital government performance. Based on the theory of strategic action fields, we developed a theoretical framework to understand the DGT process and changes in configurations. Based on a novel Multiple Time Differencing Qualitative Comparative Analysis (MTD/QCA) method, the analysis of 31 provincial regions in Chinese mainland over four years derived 13 distinct solutions in the three basic stages of DGT: exploration, concentration, and complementation. These findings reveal the complexity of DGT from an evolutionary perspective and indicate that these factors do not work in isolation, but in combination with others to promote DGT. Understanding the configurational relationships of these factors can help governments adjust their strategies across the three stages of DGT.

Platform Organizations and Fields: Exploring the Influence of Field Conditions on Platformization Processes

This article contributes to the debate on the platformization of society by presenting a theoretical framework that describes the influence of strategic action fields (SAFs) on the emergence of platform architectures. It shifts the focus from already successful platforms to contested processes of platformization, understood as the gradual reorganization of fields around the architectures of digital platforms. To assess the influence of fields on platformization processes, the article combines the architectural view of platforms and the theory of SAFs. The resulting framework emphasizes that platform organizations may occupy powerful positions in fields, but they also depend on the contributions of users and complementors to establish these positions in the first place. Therefore, the forms and outcomes of platformization are influenced by the conditions in SAFs, particularly the stage in the field’s temporal trajectory and the field position of platform organizations. By re-examining a growing body of empirical research, the article distinguishes platformization processes in emerging, stable, and transforming fields, and presents scenarios for each case. By theorizing a wide range of platformization processes and outcomes beyond disruption, the article offers a nuanced understanding of the proliferation of digital platforms and the influence of platform organizations in contemporary societies.

Social Equity of Public Participation Environments

To address the lack of research on institutional barriers to public participation, we examine participation environments by studying neighborhood commissions. Using the Strategic Action Field Framework for Implementation Research, we illustrate how city-level policies interact with commissions and organizational-level driving forces to create experiences for citizens. Data were analyzed using structural and elaborative coding and suggest there is value in using the cultural frames of strict father and nurturing parent as an interpretive tool. The strict father frame shapes the environment via norms, policies, and practices, and communicates preferences for citizen identities. Time pressures reinforce this frame. To realize environments that advance social equity, findings reveal that three conditions must be present: a) nurturing parent norms, practices, and policies that are coupled with a consensus on the purpose of participation, b) mutual understanding of past racist policies, and c) trust between actors. Seven propositions are offered for further study.

Institutional work and social skill: the formation of strategic action fields for local energy systems in Britain

The concept of Strategic Action Fields (SAF) is combined with analysis of institutional work to investigate the tactics actors adopt to support or deter policy for integrated local energy systems. Integrating heat, power, and mobility systems at local or regional scale would entail highly significant changes in energy systems yet is an area of increasing policy interest. We explore how this field is being constituted differently across the devolved jurisdictions of Great Britain, but faces similar challenges. The obduracy of legacy centralised institutions is a powerful force in blocking new sustainable energy SAFs, with Government retaining significant countervailing power. Additionally we demonstrate how overlaps between policy domains can obstruct the formation of new rule structures; notably emerging local energy planning rules are constrained by wider limitations in devolved governance powers. These findings raise questions about whether net zero can happen, and in what form, under current multi-level governance structures.

Food justice in community supported agriculture – differentiating charitable and emancipatory social support actions

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) seeks to address injustices in the food system by supporting small-scale farmers applying agroecological practices through a long-term partnership: a community of members covers the cost of production and receives a share of the harvest throughout the season in return. Despite an orientation towards a more just and inclusive food system, the existing literature points towards a rather homogeneous membership in CSA. A majority of CSAs tends to involve (upper) middle-class consumers with above average education and income levels. Low income is still a major obstacle in joining a CSA. Membership diversification through social support actions is one possible way. Our main objective is to systematize and appraise social support actions of the CSA movement. Taking the CSA principles as a starting point, our main research question is: How do social support actions in CSAs operate in terms of social inclusion and what obstacles and challenges are associated with them? The theory of strategic action fields assists in describing how the CSA movement is positioning itself as an actor in and across neighboring strategic action fields. The CSA movement is clearly positioned in the Food Sovereignty field. By shifting the focus from justice to farmers to justice for members, the CSA movement is now also exploring the Food Justice field. Indeed, the CSAs’ contribution to the food justice movement is still largely uncharted. In our results, we identify both social support actions that are already implemented in the CSA movement in different countries, and the challenges that are associated with these actions. We pinpoint a classification of social support actions implemented by CSA organizers to increase access to their initiatives. We make a distinction between the emancipatory actions that empower beneficiaries and contribute to a systemic change, and punctual, charitable interventions that neither affect the structure of a CSA nor the food system.

Strategic Action Fields Through Digital Network Data: An Examination of Charitable Food Provision in Greater Manchester

AbstractThis article illustrates how qualitative and network evidence complement one another for obtaining a deeper understanding of meso-level social orders theorized as strategic action fields. Making use of network data based on Twitter follower relationships and building on a previous qualitative study on the food charities active in Greater Manchester, we show how network-analytic formalizations of even apparently unimportant digital connections—Twitter ‘follows’—can provide meaningful insights into the functioning of strategic action fields. Focusing on this local charitable food provision field, the article makes a number of broader empirical and methodological contributions potentially relevant to the study of non-profits and other multi-organizational fields. The results of the network analyses mostly confirm the findings obtained using qualitative data, but also point to potential contradictions and puzzles that may indicate further lines of inquiry. In the discussion, we highlight the strengths and limitations of this approach and suggest how researchers could use easily available digital network data at different phases of their field investigations.

Exploring the campaign space of non-party activism in the 2017 and 2019 UK general elections

In recent years there has been an increase in election-focused activity undertaken by non-party organisations. This activism concerns issues such as political education, cross-party collaboration, voter registration, and voter advice. Using the 2017 and 2019 UK general elections as case studies, we take a strategic action field approach to analyse how this campaign space is developing. We demonstrate the existence of competing logics of activism associated with the fields of social movements, electioneering, and ‘civic tech’. This leads to conflicts related to ethos, time, organisational hybridity, activism, funding and regulation, with such issues frequently shaped by the affordances offered by digital technology. Our findings contribute towards better understandings of how these actors operate in, and attempt to influence, the contemporary electoral landscape.