Institutionalizing
the Recycling Movement:
The Structuring of Dialogue in the Solid Waste Field
Michael
Lounsbury, Paul Hirsch, and Marc Ventresca
Abstract
Curbside recycling programs grew fivefold betweeen
1988 and 1995, yet recycling as practical activity is contested
on both ecological and economic criteria. This paper develops arguments
at the intersection of organizational and social movements analysis
to develop understanding of how broader social processes enable
the diffusion of ecologically sustainable practices. Through historical
analysis of key actors and systematic tracking of expert discourse
changes, we provide evidence of how recycling advocacy and the solid
waste field co-evolved. We argue that the proliferation of curbside
recycling programs and practices in the United States was influenced
by contention and change in the solid waste field, the formalization
of recycling advocacy into a social movement organization, and the
social legitimation of recycling as a solid waste model. We discuss
the implications of these findings for public policy formation.
Michael Lounsbury, Department
of Organization Behavior, Kellogg Graduate School of Management,
Northwestern University
Paul Hirsch, Department of Organization Behavior,
Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University
Marc Ventresca, Department of Organization Behavior,
Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University
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