Civil Society, Crisis, and Change: Towards a Theoretical Framework

ABSTRACT This concluding essay frames the actual and potential role of civil society actors in terms of institutional theory, complemented by Gramscian thought. Global finance is conceived as an institutionalized field in need of structural change triggered by institutional entrepreneurs. Reviewing the nature of problems, it becomes clear that only a wide—if probably quite loose— coalition of different actors will effect the necessary profound change. However, no such coalition is in view today. Issues related to power, wealth, and ideology are put forward as a possible explanation. We then explore the relevance of Gramsci’s theory of the ‘modern prince’as a challenger of ‘cultural hegemony ’ for a response to these problems. We suppose that civil society actors have a fair chance to accomplish societal reconstruction, provided that they step up the effort in a more coordinated way and take into account the inevitable conflict it will generate. KEY WORDS: Economic crisis, civil society, institutional theory, institutional entrepreneurship, cultural hegemony Our own research on civil society’s response to the financial crisis originated as an attempt to take stock of, and understand, the behaviour of philanthropic foundations. We discussed our empirical findings in terms of institutional theory and found that this approach pro