Analytical Lens for Investigating CSOs and State Relations: The Contributions of Coproduction and Institutional Logics Perspectives

Abstract

The 1990s saw what Della Porta (2020. “Building Bridges: Social Movements and Civil Society in Times of Crisis.” Voluntas 31 (5): 938–48) calls the renaissance of civil society, from which studies on the relations between Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the state grew exponentially. Based on this context, this theoretical essay aims to demonstrate how the theories of coproduction and institutional logics can be used in a complementary way to understand these relations. We use a qualitative methodology of extensive literature review and study of the proposed concepts. We identify six contributions of this complementary use: (i) CSOs-state coproduction processes take place on institutional fields, (ii) Coproduction encompasses the mobilization of institutional logics’ material and symbolic resources, (iii) Structural mechanisms influence coproduction, (iv) Institutional logics bring both collaboration and conflict dimensions into coproduction processes, (v) Coproduction helps operationalize studies in institutional logics, and (vi) Institutional logics influence coproduced results. We hope that our theoretical–analytical contributions can be applied in empirical studies and improved in the future.