ABSTRACT
This chapter contributes to better understanding of the variation by focusing on an important but under studied type of broker, which we call 'institutionalized brokers'. The empirical examples analyzed in the chapter shed light on the increased relevance of institutionalized brokers and the trade-offs faced by both the actors that create them and the brokers themselves. It analyzes associational hubs by focusing on the process of creation of transnational nodes in the context of free trade agreement mobilizations in the America's, and specifically in Mexico and Brazil. It then analyzes peak associations and multisectoral bodies by focusing on role they play within the organizational ecologies of post-transition civil society in Mexico City and So Paulo. The chapter contributes to the organizational literature on collective action by shedding light on the potentially important institutionalized brokerage roles played by organizations in enlarged organizational ecologies. It also suggests the relevance of developing a research agenda focused on institutionalized brokerage in collective action.
