Capturing Critical Institutionalism: A Synthesis of Key Themes and Debates

Abstract

The article aims to provide a synthesis of key discussions within scholarship that is critical of Mainstream Institutionalism. It adopts a thematic approach to chart debate and areas of convergence about key issues. The first section of the article briefly charts the rise to prominence of the mainstream 'collective action' school. Each of the themes identified as central to the alternative critical approach is then examined in turn. These are the 'homogenous community' critique, the avoidance of politics critique (further divided into ideational politics and politics of local empowerment) and the sociological critique. The article concludes by reflecting on the challenge of 'making complexity legible' that faces the nascent critical tradition in institutional analysis.