Giorgi Simona
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Wild by design? Agency, framing, and joint action mobilization for ecosystem restoration in Chicago

simona.giorgi@gmail.com

Simona Giorgi is a PhD candidate in the Management and Organizations department at the Kellogg School of Management. Her research lies at the intersection of institutional theory, cultural sociology, and strategic management and explores the challenges of introducing change in institutional environments with a particular attention to language. While her research spans a range of empirical settings, it mostly focuses on gaining legitimacy and building allies for environmental innovations.

Wild by design? Agency, framing, and joint action mobilization for ecosystem restoration in Chicago

This study examines the struggle of an environmental entrepreneur in introducing an innovative practice of cleaning municipal water without the construction of steel-and-cement plants and the use of chemicals. In particular, it explores the impact of such organization's language in preventing the cooperation of a key potential ally, a consortium of other environmental non-profit organizations that share its specific goal of restoring ecosystems in Illinois. Relying on extensive qualitative data and a content analysis of each organization's discursive production between 2002 and 2008, I show how symbols can constrain an organization's ability to stimulate cooperation, hence negatively impacting its effectiveness in introducing change.