How to Make a Market: Reflections on the Attempt to Create a Single Market in the European Union Author(s): Neil Fligstein and Iona Mara-Drita Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 102, No. 1 (Jul., 1996), pp. 1-33 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2782186 . Accessed: 23/09/2011 12:54 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Journal of Sociology. http://www.jstor.org How to Make a Market: Reflections on the Attempt to Create a Single Market in the European Union1 Neil Fligsteinand Iona Mara-Drita Universityof California,Berkeley Theoriesabout institution-buildingepisodes emphasize either ratio- nal or social and culturalelements. Our researchon the Single Market Program(SMP) of the European Union (EU) shows that both elementsare part of the process. When the EU was caught in a stalemate,the European Commissiondevised the SMP. The commissionworked within the constraintsof existinginstitutional arrangements,provided a "culturalframe," and helped create an elite social movement.This examinationof the SMP legislation, usingan institutionalapproach to the sociologyof markets,shows how the commissionwas able to do thisby tradingoff the interests of importantstate and corporateactors.