The Decline and Fall of the Paris Salon : a Study of the Deinstitutionalization Pro cess of a Field Configuring Event in the Cultural Activities

Abstract

Copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. Consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). M@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. For a free subscription to M@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com

Recovering Materiality in Institutional Work

“…Scholars have pointed out the relevance of events as occasions of institutional change, claiming that these are opportunities when legitimacy is assigned to practices, ideas are stimulated and promoted, networks are strengthened, and new markets are created (Anand & Jones, 2008;Delacour & Leca, 2011;Garud, 2008;Glynn, 2008;Hardy & Maguire, 2010;Lampel & Meyer, 2008;McInerney, 2008;Moeran & Pedersen, 2011;Oliver & Montgomery, 2008;Zilber, 2011). The basic intuition is that conferences, conventions, congresses and awards are moments in which multiple actors interact, reconfiguring social rules, standards and positions.…”

“…One can contrast this account with situations in which the absence of a material dimension negatively affects the durability of institutional arrangements. Delacour & Leca (2011) for example, studied the deinstitutionalization of 'Paris Salon,' a selective annual show that constituted a notable field-configuring event in the art scene of the time. The Salon, an event that unlike others was not associated with a particular gallery or building, succumbed to the build-up of internal and external pressures partly because -unlike LSE -it lacked a strong material anchor.…”

“Devils May Sit Here:” The Role of Enchantment in Institutional Maintenance

“…In her article on the creation of the London School of Economics, Czarniawska (2009: 430) commented on the importance of the building as a stabilizing artefact for the institution: 'With the exception of clandestine schools, a school is not a school without a building'. In another study, Delacour and Leca (2011) proposed that the inadequacy of the material base for the nineteenth century annual arts exhibition in Paris, and its physical dispersion among several locations, could have contributed to its demise.…”

Animated Times: Critical Transitions and the Maintenance of Field-Configuring Events

“…As FCE participants interact less during an event, it ceases to be a focal moment for exchange and learning. A second reason is the closure of FCEs to field innovation, as they become increasingly entangled in their own routines and unable to take any radical input into account (Delacour and Leca 2011a), forcing field members to set up other events that can respond to the field's evolutions. Finally, decline might come from the development of competing events whose promoters make significant efforts to ensure their prominence (Schü ßler, Dobusch, and Wessel 2014).…”

“…However, recent research has shown that the ability of event series to maintain their field-configuring and novelty-generating capacity cannot be taken for granted, and may even decline over time (e.g. Delacour and Leca 2011a;Schü ßler, Rü ling, and Wittneben 2014). Building on these insights, this study analyzes the case of a successful field-configuring event series to identify the organizational mechanisms that enable it to maintain its dominant position in the field.…”