O empreendedorismo institucional no processo de certificação de Boa Esperança (MG) como Cidade Comércio Justo

Abstract

This dissertation was primarily dedicated to the study of the institutional entrepreneurship as a relevant factor for the consolidation of an emerging organizational field. For this purpose, the certification process of Boa Esperança, located in Minas Gerais, as a Fair Trade Town was chosen as an object of study. Fair Trade is an initiative fundamentally marked by the relation established between producers in the southern hemisphere, on one side, and importing companies and commerce platforms operating in the northern hemisphere, on the other. This commercial partnership is based upon dialogue, transparency and respect and aims at contributing to a bigger equity in international commerce, while promoting sustainability and better trading conditions to the least favored producers. The main objective of this study was to analyse the role played by the institutional entrepreneurs in Boa Esperança’s process of certification as a Fair Trade Town. To reach that goal, Maguire, Hardy and Lawrence’s article, published in 2004, was used as a reference, especially the six propositions they elaborated about the agency of institutional entrepreneurs. These propositions were used to analyse the role played by social actors in the city of Boa Esperança. The qualitative approach of the dissertation was based on semi-structured interviews and document analysis as the main references. The data collected were treated using content analysis methodological procedures, in which the interviews were categorized and matched with their corresponding theoretical axis according to the theme analysis. As a result, all the propositions concerning the position played by the actors in rural zones were fully confirmed: their capacity to access the concerned parties and gather resources, the use of persuasive argumentation in order to motivate new practices, and the attempt to institutionalize these new practices by aligning them to the values of the several stakeholders. Finally, the propositions concerning the use of political negotiation and consensus and the attempt to institutionalize rural practices by uniting routines were only partially confirmed.