Society Research
Networks, Institutions, Culture and Association? A case study on associative actions in the German markets for organic food
18 October 2016, by CGG
Simon Dombrowski
Simon Dombrowski
Networks, Institutions, Culture and Association? A case study on associative actions in the German markets for organic food
How does associative action shape market orders? While Economic Sociology has accumulated ample evidence on how networks, institutions and culture shape market valuations as well as competition and cooperation between market actors, little is known about the effect of associative actions on market orders. Yet, - as is demonstrated by a historical case study of the German markets for organic food - associative action has an effect on market order by contributing to the constitution of market networks, institutions and cultures. Moreover, associative actions develop dynamics that are neither reducible to any of those social structures. The German markets for organic food are an extreme case of nine cooperating and competing organic farmers associations deliberately attempting to create a market order by developing and promoting organic production techniques, organic marketing channels and cultural frames about what the market is about and how producers are successful in a market. By applying Neil Fligstein’s field theoretic approach to markets to the German markets for organic food products this paper extends the scope of his approach from “producer markets” to markets where a large number of small, relatively resourceless producers compete.
Dombrowski, S. (2016): Networks, Institutions, Culture and Association? A case study on associative actions in the German markets for organic food, CGG-Working papers No. 5, 18 pp.
For a pdf version of this paper, please click here.