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The Trojan Horse of Local Government

Fred, Mats LU orcid (2023) p.39-55
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the latent functions of projectification using local government practices as an example and explore organisational consequences of an increasing reliance on a project logic. Inspired by the institutional logic perspective, local government and their organisations are studied as sites where several, coexisting institutional logics are ‘available’ for civil servants and politicians alike to act upon and translate into practices. The growing importance of the project logic in relation to other logics, and the resulting consequences, are a vital (but often neglected) part of projectification. The project logic, however, is somewhat more elusive than the specific project organisations. It operates... (More)
The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the latent functions of projectification using local government practices as an example and explore organisational consequences of an increasing reliance on a project logic. Inspired by the institutional logic perspective, local government and their organisations are studied as sites where several, coexisting institutional logics are ‘available’ for civil servants and politicians alike to act upon and translate into practices. The growing importance of the project logic in relation to other logics, and the resulting consequences, are a vital (but often neglected) part of projectification. The project logic, however, is somewhat more elusive than the specific project organisations. It operates implicitly or ‘under the radar’—in other words, like a Trojan horse. Where projects often are described as an apolitical method at our disposal, used to deliver predefined objectives, they are here regard as policy instruments that produce specific effects on their own. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the latent functions of projectification using local government practices as an example and explore organisational consequences of an increasing reliance on a project logic. Inspired by the institutional logic perspective, local government and their organisations are studied as sites where several, coexisting institutional logics are ‘available’ for civil servants and politicians alike to act upon and translate into practices. The growing importance of the project logic in relation to other logics, and the resulting consequences, are a vital (but often neglected) part of projectification. The project logic, however, is somewhat more elusive than the specific project organisations. It operates... (More)
The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the latent functions of projectification using local government practices as an example and explore organisational consequences of an increasing reliance on a project logic. Inspired by the institutional logic perspective, local government and their organisations are studied as sites where several, coexisting institutional logics are ‘available’ for civil servants and politicians alike to act upon and translate into practices. The growing importance of the project logic in relation to other logics, and the resulting consequences, are a vital (but often neglected) part of projectification. The project logic, however, is somewhat more elusive than the specific project organisations. It operates implicitly or ‘under the radar’—in other words, like a Trojan horse. Where projects often are described as an apolitical method at our disposal, used to deliver predefined objectives, they are here regard as policy instruments that produce specific effects on their own. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Projectification of Organizations, Governance and Societies
editor
Fred, Mats and Godenhjelm, Sebastian
edition
1
pages
17 pages
publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
external identifiers
  • scopus:85169227400
ISBN
978-3-031-30411-8
978-3-031-30410-1
DOI
10.1007/978-3-031-30411-8_3
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
111bdd2a-d0ef-4b75-a5c0-43b1698d5b9f
date added to LUP
2023-07-03 15:27:07
date last changed
2024-04-19 23:12:01
@inbook{111bdd2a-d0ef-4b75-a5c0-43b1698d5b9f,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the latent functions of projectification using local government practices as an example and explore organisational consequences of an increasing reliance on a project logic. Inspired by the institutional logic perspective, local government and their organisations are studied as sites where several, coexisting institutional logics are ‘available’ for civil servants and politicians alike to act upon and translate into practices. The growing importance of the project logic in relation to other logics, and the resulting consequences, are a vital (but often neglected) part of projectification. The project logic, however, is somewhat more elusive than the specific project organisations. It operates implicitly or ‘under the radar’—in other words, like a Trojan horse. Where projects often are described as an apolitical method at our disposal, used to deliver predefined objectives, they are here regard as policy instruments that produce specific effects on their own.}},
  author       = {{Fred, Mats}},
  booktitle    = {{Projectification of Organizations, Governance and Societies}},
  editor       = {{Fred, Mats and Godenhjelm, Sebastian}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-031-30411-8}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  pages        = {{39--55}},
  publisher    = {{Palgrave Macmillan}},
  title        = {{The Trojan Horse of Local Government}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30411-8_3}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-031-30411-8_3}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}