Materiality in Institutional Analysis: A Bricolage Approach

Abstract

Institutional innovation refers to the introduction and mainstreaming of new ideas. Drawing on the concept of bricolage, Cartel and Boxenbaum explore the material dimension of institutional innovation processes. They mobilize two constituent components of bricolage, namely crafting and trial, to articulate how materiality impacts institutional innovation. They propose that crafting and trial unfold recursively in cycles of bricolage that progressively enable new ideas to be expressed materially in the form of prototypes. In turn, prototypes are combined with discursive features through theorization and rhetorical strategies to further support the processes of institutional innovation.