How "social change organizations" balance organizational imperatives with progressive, or "principled," values is a dilemma commonly addressed in the sociological literature (cf. Minkoff, 2002; Ostrander, 2004). This challenge is particularly important where organizations are undergoing a process of change (Kelley et al., 2005). However, few studies have used internal working conditions as a dynamic on which to measure this balance. Thus, using the internal dynamics of two contemporary human rights organizations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as a means of understanding these challenges, the broadest objective of this dissertation is to understand how organizations with principled values do or do not construct "exemplary" workplaces (Lofland, 1996). Changes to the gendered nature of the organizations are examined as a specific indicator of this exemplary behaviour. Using new institutionalist literature as a guide, I demonstrate the ways in which isomorphic pressures shaped human rights organizations throughout the 1990s. Specifically, I show that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch shared a shifting institutional environment, including political climate favourable toward the human rights discourse, increased attention from media, increased pressure to professionalize, the need to present themselves as legitimate and accountable, and the need to respond to competitive pressures. I found that as both organizations responded to these pressures and opportunities in their institutional environment, they adapted internal structures, strategies, and behaviours. The result was increased hierarchy, competition between employees, performance pressures, and emotionally repressive workplace norms. Moreover, men and women often experienced these changes differently. The investigation of two organizations, however, revealed that this connective chain was also shaped by the specific histories, structures, and cultures of each organization.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.102842 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Rodgers, Kathleen. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Sociology.) |
| Rights | © Kathleen Rodgers, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002610883, proquestno: AAINR32320, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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