Greens, suits, and bureaucrats: A sociological study of dynamic organizational relationships in energy efficient appliance policy
by Shwom-Evelich, Rachael Leah, Ph.D., MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, 2008, 192 pages; 3348220

Abstract:

In this dissertation I develop an approach to understanding dynamic organizational relations and the processes of environmental degradation and reform. To do this, I draw on environmental and organizational sociology to inform an empirical study of interorganizational relationships in defining and promoting energy efficient appliances in the United States (US). The dissertation follows a three paper approach which involves (a) an overall introduction to the substantive issue of appliance energy efficiency in the US; (b) producing three separate and stand alone articles of publishable quality to be submitted to professional journals; and (c) an overall conclusion. The three articles are as follows: (1) a synthetic literature review identifying five lessons that organizational sociology and environmental sociology can learn from each other to advance our sociological understanding of organizations, energy issues, and climate change (2) a qualitative case study of the changing relationships between business, government and environmental and energy advocacy organizations around mandatory appliance efficiency standards supporting the development of a context-dependent theory of ecological modernization and treadmill of production theories in environmental sociology and (3) a network analysis of public government, business and energy efficiency advocate's interorganizational relationships and its influence on subsequent organizational behaviors in the appliance energy efficiency field. The second and third articles are based on extensive archival research on organizational negotiations of public record over defining energy efficient appliances in both regulatory and voluntary settings. Finally I will provide an overall conclusion that brings together the most significant findings of each individual article in anticipation of a synthetic approach to the study of organizations in environmental reform.

 
AdviserThomas Dietz
SchoolMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
SourceDAI/A 70-02, p. , Apr 2009
Source TypeDissertation
SubjectsOrganizational behavior; Energy
Publication Number3348220
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