Paradoxes in Paradise: Neoliberalism in Alberta's Developmental Disability Field

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Paradoxes in Paradise: Neoliberalism in Alberta's Developmental Disability Field University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2016 Paradoxes in Paradise: Neoliberalism in Alberta's Developmental Disability Field Sonpal-Valias, Nilima Sonpal-Valias, N. (2016). Paradoxes in Paradise: Neoliberalism in Alberta's Developmental Disability Field (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27252 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3046 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Paradoxes in Paradise: Neoliberalism in Alberta’s Developmental Disability Field by Nilima Sonpal-Valias A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN SOCIOLOGY CALGARY, ALBERTA JUNE, 2016 © Nilima Sonpal-Valias 2016 Abstract This research examines the manifestation of neoliberal reforms and their institutionalising processes and effects in the field of services for adults with developmental disabilities in Alberta. The goal is to contribute to emerging understandings of how neoliberalism shapes the environmental context and characteristics of nonprofit human service organizations. A longitudinal embedded single-case study design and historical research approach are used. The study is grounded in a social constructivist perspective, guided by a theoretical framework integrating organizational and historical institutionalism with resource dependence theory. To understand the origins of the institutional arrangements existing at the start of the reforms, the evolution of the field is traced from 1905 to the 1990s. Four critical junctures are identified during this period, associated with: the eugenics movement; the deinstitutionalization and normalization movements; the social model of disability; and the onset of neoliberalism. The thesis identifies the broader socio-cultural, economic and political contexts in which the developments occurred. Neoliberal reforms, which intensified when the Klein government came into power in 1992, manifested in Alberta’s developmental disability field in four main ways: program cutbacks and limitations; a new structure for program delivery; increased family and individual responsibility; and managerial techniques for scrutiny and accountability. The thesis reveals poignant differences in the unfolding of the reforms, the identity and role of central actors, the levels and forms of acceptance, resistance, and entrepreneurship exhibited by various actors to shape institutional changes, and the nature and extent of change achieved. Organizations demonstrated isomorphic properties and tendencies expected in a highly institutionalised context, but their responses were diverse, structured by their histories, cultures and sense of self-identity, professional biases, and perceptions of dependencies. Even in a province much touted for neoliberalism, the reforms did not roll out coherently, and only partially achieved the benchmark principles of neoliberal government. Neoliberalism’s inherent paradoxes, a multiplex institutional context, and the creative agencies of strategic actors are implicated in the contradictory and experimental nature of the outcomes. ii Acknowledgements An endeavour such as this is rarely accomplished without significant funding, supervisory, professional, and family support. Funding toward this research was generously provided by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship (2012-14), Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarships (2013-14), University of Calgary Queen Elizabeth II Doctoral Scholarships (2010-12), and the Department of Sociology’s Graduate Research Scholarship (2015). I thank Dr. Tom Langford for introducing me to the neoliberalism literature and for just the right amount of supervision throughout this journey. Thank you for being there when I needed you, and for trusting me to muddle along in my own way the rest of the time. Thank you also to supervisory committee members, Dr. Keith Seel and Dr. Christopher Smith, for your constructive criticisms to earlier drafts, and to examiners, Dr. Trevor Harrison and Dr. David Este, for your insightful questions at the thesis defence. This project would have been impossible without the research participants. Thank you for sharing with me your perspectives and for allowing me to publicly identify you. To Elaine Yost of Options Rehabilitations Inc., Ryan Geake of Calgary SCOPE Society, and Joan Lee of Vecova Centre for Disability Services and Research, thank you for giving me access to your organizations, and for your unswerving leadership in the field. I thank my brother Nikhil Sonpal for planting the idea to leave my well-paying and fulfilling executive position to return to graduate school, and I thank my sweet and loving mother Bhanumati Sonpal for being the wonderful person she is. To my husband and best friend Wlad Franco-Valias, I cannot thank you enough for unconditionally supporting me in all my crazy goals. You are my strength and I am your biggest fan. Finally, to my father Kirtikumar Sonpal, my grandmother Savitagauri Sonpal, and my grandfather Manilal Sonpal: I could not have done what I did, or been who I am, without your blessings. Your love is felt every day. iii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii List of Boxes and Figures .................................................................................................. ix List of Abbreviations ...........................................................................................................x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 1.1 Context and Motivation for the Study .......................................................................1 1.1.1 Defining nonprofit organizations, the sector, and human services ...................5 1.2 Research Goal, Questions, and Approach .................................................................6 1.3 Overview of Chapters ..............................................................................................10 CHAPTER TWO: CANADA’S NONPROFIT SECTOR, NEOLIBERALISM AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................14 2.1 Part One: The Canadian Nonprofit Sector and Neoliberalism ................................16 2.1.1 Scope and significance of the sector ...............................................................16 2.1.2 Historical evolution .........................................................................................17 2.1.3 Neoliberalism in the Canadian nonprofit sector ..............................................20 2.1.4 Neoliberalism’s heterogeneity and contextual-specificity ..............................29 2.1.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................34 2.2 Part Two: Understanding Nonprofit Human Service Organizations .......................35 2.2.1 Distinguishing attributes of human service organizations ...............................36 2.2.2 A selected review of theoretical approaches ...................................................39 2.2.3 Resource dependence theory ...........................................................................42 2.2.4 Organizational institutionalism .......................................................................45 2.2.5 Historical institutionalism ...............................................................................50 2.2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................54 2.3 Part Three: Research Questions and Theoretical Framework .................................54 2.3.1 Comparing resource dependence and institutional perspectives .....................56 2.3.2 Theoretical framework ....................................................................................59 2.3.3 Analytic activities ............................................................................................65 2.4 Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................66 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH APPROACH AND METHODS .................................68 3.1 Epistemological Orientation and Researcher Role ..................................................69 3.2 Rationale for Case Study Approach .........................................................................71 3.3 Rationale for Selecting Alberta’s Developmental disability field ...........................73 3.4 Summary of
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