Sociology Seminar 
Time: :12:00 pm – 13:30 pm

Date: 14th of may
Room : 3049

Christof BRANDTNER (EM LYON) – “From Suites To Streets : Professional Expertise And The Organizational Pursuit Of Urban Integration”

Abstract : “Sociologists have shown that the presence of organizations shapes urban integration—the extent to which people are connected across lines of difference. Yet extant studies of cities and neighborhoods conceal that organizational characteristics—notably professional expertise—may shape which type of urban integration organizations prioritize: social integration, creating social ties among constituents, and systemic integration, connecting constituents to institutional resources. We examine how expertise affects organizations’ integrative practices and ability to accrue institutional funding. While suite-level expertise is associated with systemically integrative practices and material rewards, many organizations stick to less lucrative street-level expertise, which is associated with socially integrative practices. Representative administrative, survey, and interview data of San Francisco Bay Area nonprofits show that institutional support for organizations shifts the attention from one form of expertise to another, thus undermining their propensity to produce both forms of integration. Bridging organizational and urban sociology, we challenge the stylized fact that nonprofits foster community and offer a more robust understanding of how organizations are embedded in their urban environment”.

Authors : Christof Brandtner, EM Lyon & Krystal Laryea, University of Memphis and Notre Dame University

Organizers:
Paola TUBARO (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Sofian EL ATIFI (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Patrick PRÄG (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Sponsors:
CREST