Tag: organizational sociology

New Publication: “Jurisdictional Gerrymandering: The Authority of Problems without Solutions” by Shira Zilberstein

On By Neha JangetiIn Announcements, PublicationsLeave a comment

Zilberstein, Shira. 2026. “Jurisdictional Gerrymandering: The Authority of Problems without Solutions.” Social Problems. doi:10.1093/socpro/spag024

Abstract: This paper develops the concept of jurisdictional gerrymandering to explain how professionals selectively invoke boundaries around their expertise to frame their role and maintain authority in solving problems that extend beyond their jurisdiction. Drawing on a study of artificial intelligence (AI) model development for healthcare, I analyze how AI practitioners position their work in relation to health equity, an issue they acknowledge cannot be solved through technology. Rather than claiming full authority over equity solutions or deferring to other domains, AI practitioners engage in jurisdictional gerrymandering by critiquing, projecting, and dissolving jurisdiction for different aspects of defining and solving health equity. This process enables them to retain authority to participate in health equity problem solving through moral alignment without accountability for solutions. In contrast to jurisdictional models of professional authority or networked expertise, jurisdictional gerrymandering unbundles defining and solving problems. It reveals a key mechanism through which authority is maintained without asserting control or claiming to be able to achieve solutions. Jurisdictional gerrymandering enables problem frames to continually serve as justifications for technological projects and expert interventions regardless of solutions, shedding light on tensions between innovation, expertise, and responsibility for social problems.

Shira Zilberstein is a PhD candidate in sociology at Harvard University and a fellow in the Science and Technology Studies program at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her research focuses on cultural sociology, science and technology studies and organizations, as well as theory and methods. She is interested in the production, interpretation and evaluation of ideas and the dynamics between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic forms of knowledge in institutional and technical settings. To this end, she has conducted research on grassroots artists, international non-governmental organizations, American college students, academics and journalists. Her dissertation focuses on applied interdisciplinary research collaborations in the field of artificial intelligence. The project studies the ways in which social impact is understood and structured by organizational incentives and decision-making processes that define and seek to address social needs.

New Publication: “The (State–Private) Ties That Bind: Status, Interactions, and Economic Development in India” by Aruna Ranganathan & Laura Doering

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Ranganathan, Aruna, and Laura Doering. 2026. “The (State–Private) Ties That Bind: Status, Interactions, and Economic Development in India.” Sociology of Development 1–31. doi:10.1525/sod.2026.2893447.

Abstract: Governments often collaborate with the private sector to design and implement major economic initiatives. In studying such state–society collaborations, sociologists tend to focus on how institutional contexts shape outcomes. Although this institutional approach has been highly generative, it can overlook important micro-level interaction patterns between state and private-sector actors that also affect economic outcomes. In this study, we examine how bureaucrats in the Indian government interacted with private-sector representatives to design and implement an industrial crafts park. Drawing on ethnographic observations, interviews, and supplemental survey data, we show how bureaucrats’ status biases in favor of certain private-sector actors produced interaction patterns that blinded them to fatal flaws in the project’s design and ultimately contributed to its dramatic failure. By bringing an interactionist lens to state–society economic engagements, this study reveals how interaction patterns can aggregate to shape large-scale development outcomes. More broadly, it highlights an important but undertheorized pathway through which bureaucrats may inadvertently reinforce social stratification through the very projects intended to reduce economic inequality. We suggest that an interactionist approach to state–private collaborations and policy design can contribute to efforts to address global poverty.

Aruna Ranganathan holds the Dong Koo Kim Chancellor’s Chair in Social Entrepreneurship and is an Associate Professor at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Prof. Ranganathan is also affiliated with the Sociology department and the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley. She was formerly an associate professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University. Ranganathan spent her childhood in the Middle East, India, and Singapore before graduating with honors from the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business with a BCom in organizational behavior and human resources. She also received an MS in international and comparative labor from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and an MS/PhD in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Laura Doering is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management and is cross-appointed in the Department of Sociology. As an economic sociologist, she examines how interactions and social psychological processes shape outcomes for households, organizations, and markets. Her research has been published in the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Sociological Science, Sociology of Development, and Journal of Business Venturing. Professor Doering’s research and writing have appeared in The New York Times, BBC News, The Globe and Mail, Salon, and other outlets.

Postdoctoral Fellow Position in Organization Theory, Institutional Change and Education

On By Jessica UrzúaIn Announcements, Fellowship, postdocsLeave a comment

The Harvard University Graduate School of Education invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow Position with Dr. Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell, the Herbert A. Simon Professor in Education, Management, and Organizational Behavior. The position is part of a grant-funded project combining theories of organizations, institutions, and education reform.

The project examines the extent to which the use of research evidence and epistemology is a catalyst for institutional change in persistently low-performing school organizations often designated for ‘turnaround’.

Position Details:

  • Appointment: Full-time, in-person (Cambridge, MA)
  • Term: July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027
  • Salary: $82,000 (12-month appointment, full benefits)
  • Application review begins: November 10, 2025 (rolling basis)

Qualifications:

  • Ph.D. in Education, Organization and Management Theory, Organizational Behavior, Organizational Sociology, Sociology of Education or similar by the position start date.
  • Strong background in qualitative and quantitative research methods, solid understanding of experimental design and program evaluation.
  • Experience collaborating with schools and districts or other organizations in the field, such as state education agencies and technical assistance organizations.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead research projects independently, work collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams and thrive with emergent work processes.
  • Strong project management skills; experience with conference or event planning is a strong plus.
  • Commitment to executing work to the highest standards of excellence.

Application Instructions:
Applicants should review the W.T. Grant–funded research project proposal and submit the following materials via Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/175715:

  1. A 2–3-page reflection on the project’s theoretical motivation, empirical strategy, and implications
  2. A 1–2-page cover letter outlining relevant expertise and experience
  3. A curriculum vitae
  4. Names of three references (letters not required at the initial stage)

For full details, see the complete position announcement (PDF).

For inquiries, please contact Dr. Bridwell-Mitchell’s faculty coordinator kyla_painter@gse.harvard.edu.

Learn more about Dr. Bridwell-Mitchell’s work:

Conference Call: Organizing Plurality – INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY (ICOS), March 2025 in Hamburg, Germany

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Organizing Plurality

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIOLOGY (ICOS)

March 27 & 28, 2025  Hamburg, Germany

Call for Abstracts is now open!

Submission Deadline: November 30, 2024

The German Section of Organizational Sociology and its European peers are organizing the International Conference on  Organizational Sociology ICOS 2025 at Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg, Germany, in March 2025.

The main topic is “Organizing Plurality,” which will be discussed in relation to several societal trends:
1) Organizations and  Valuation
2) Organizations and Sustainability
3) Organizations and Digitalization
4) Organizations and Governance

Additional details can also be found on the pdf: icos2025_organizing-plurality.pdf

You can find the full Call for Papers and more information on their homepage, icos2025.com.