Discourse and Deinstitutionalization: the Decline of DDT

Drawing on institutional theory emphasizing translation and discourse, we explore outsider-driven deinstitutionalization through a case study of the abandonment of widespread, taken-for-granted practices of DDT use between 1962 and 1972. Our findings illustrate how abandonment of practices results from "problematizations" that—through subsequent "translation"—change discourse in ways that undermine the institutional pillars supporting practices. This occurs through new "subject positions" from which actors speak and act in support of problematizations, and new bodies of knowledge, which normalize them. We introduce the concept of "defensive institutional work" and illustrate how actors carry out disruptive and…