Resilience in the Middle

Contributions of Regulated Organizations to Regulatory Success

Bibliographic Data

ID5741877
AuthorsCarol A Heimer (0000-0002-8810-9996, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume649
Issue1
Pages139-156
Publication date2013-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002716213491542
OpenAlexW2157519532
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited28

We generally think of regulations as being applied to regulated organizations, which are then expected to comply with those regulations. Yet this way of thinking often misunderstands regulated organizations and misrepresents the complexity of their responses to regulation. This article uses evidence from an ethnographic study of the global regulation of HIV treatment and research to offer a fresh interpretation of the nature of regulated organizations and the part they play in complex regulatory systems. I show that regulated organizations do a great deal of interpretive work to decipher the rules, adjust rules to local realities, and translate local practices into the categories used by rule-makers. Such adjustments are especially required when regulators have an inaccurate picture of the structure of regulated organizations and the physical and sociocultural contexts in which they are embedded. HIV clinics themselves play a crucial role in correcting misinformation and in wrangling both regulations and regulated entities to bring them into closer alignment

Biology · DECIPHER · Epistemology · Ethnography · Interpretation (philosophy) · Knowledge management · Misinformation · Perspective (graphical) · Political science · Public relations · Resilience (materials science) · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Ethics in Clinical Research · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law · Sex work and related issues