Suchergebnisse

Present times are sometimes referred to as "the golden era of regulation", as more and more areas of social life are regulated. But regulation is not only increasing; it is also changing. New regulators are emerging, and they are issuing new kinds of rules. These new kinds of regulation are frequently not legally binding, and are therefore labelled soft regulation as opposed to hard law. It is not compulsory to follow soft rules but many actors - including sovereign states - still do, and the thesis asks the question why this is so. Why do even states, which are powerful regulators themselves, abide by soft regulation, and wherein lies the regulative power of soft rules? Through an in-depth study of the European Union's pre-accession instrument Twinning an answer to the question of the power of soft regulation has been arrived at. Treating Twinning as a critical case of soft regulation, and using theories of imitation to grasp the meaning and evolution of Twinning projects, makes it possible to define three regulative elements involved in soft regulation. These are the combinative, co-productive and constitutive elements of soft regulation, from which the thesis suggests that it derives its power. First of all, soft regulation combines different kinds of rules, the regulation of identity and the regulation of activity, and a variety of sources of legitimacy. Second, it depends on regulators and regulatees interacting to co-produce regulation. And third, as its main result, it constitutes the rule-followers as formal, rational, and modern organisations. Accordingly, soft regulation has rather impressive regulative capabilities, builds on complex, dynamic, and social interactions, and embodies as well as promotes some of Western society's most strongly institutionalised ideas. The thesis argues that it is through these characteristics that actors, including states, are compelled to follow soft rules.

The article analyses the introduction and use of an IT platform in two Swedish schools. The aim is to examine the role of information systems in shaping institutional complexity, and the research questions addressed are: what logics are manifested through the use of the system and how do they interact with each other in relation to teachers' emerging work practices? The article is based on a qualitative case study of how teachers and principals perceive and use the system, and it combines theoretical thinking on institutional logics and complexity with ideas on materiality and its role in organisational change. An analysis of three teacher practices that are emerging with use of the system enables a discussion of the presence and, notably, interplay of three primary logics. Logics of professionalism, bureaucracy and management are shown to interrelate in competitive but, primarily, cooperative ways. The very materiality of the IT system is shown to attenuate experiences of incompatibilities between logics and facilitate the management of different logics when they are actually perceived to be incompatible. Contrary to what much previous literature on institutional complexity in the field of education suggests, we therefore argue that institutional complexity may facilitate and enrich teachers' practices instead of merely constituting a hindrance.