Abstract
This chapter elaborates on the nature and meaning of subversive action—a micro-mechanism which is political in nature in that it secretly undermines some institutions to open up for alternative ideas, values, and interests or secures existing institutions by secretly undermining adversaries. The meaning of the concept is discussed in relation to other concepts and theories. The second section makes a literature overview of the phenomenon of subversive action and different conceptualizations of it in order to analyze similarities and differences of how it is understood and defined in this book. In contrast to previous contributions, it is argued that subversive action may very well be a fundamental mechanism in the daily life of public organizations.
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Olsson, J. (2016). Subversive Action. In: Subversion in Institutional Change and Stability . Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94922-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94922-9_3
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