Beyond Coordination: Tackling complex social problems through an infrastructural practice

Department: Accounting and Management Control

Speaker: Professor Marian GRATZWEILER (University of Edinburgh)

Room: Ramanantsoa, building V

Zoom link: https://hec-fr.zoom.us/j/93893567539   

Abstract:

Tackling complex social problems requires contributions from actors across diverse fields with distinct expertise and resources. However, direct collaboration between actors from separate fields can be challenging, and efforts frequently fall short of objectives. This suggests a need to explore alternatives that enable actors from different fields to find synergies in their work without engaging in formal collaboration. To investigate this possibility, we analyzed data collected during a six-year qualitative study of actors from the fields of humanitarian aid and international development as they worked to address persistent global displacement. These fields have a longstanding history of separation, with different jurisdictional mandates, values, and temporal orientations. Our findings show that cash-based assistance serves as a bridging practice that enables actors from both fields to provide support to displaced populations without needing to directly collaborate or reconcile their differences. This bridging practice enables actors from separate fields to find synergies in their work through three key activities: connecting, layering, and customizing. We contribute to field theory and social innovation research by exploring alternatives to collaboration and developing a model of how actors from separate fields can find synergies in their activities through shared bridging practices. Importantly, we show how bridging practices provide not only the structure required to organize efforts globally, but also the flexibility to experiment and customize responses to local contexts.