Transition intermediaries are recognized as key actors in sustainability transitions. While the structural embeddedness of intermediaries has been explored in innovation studies and economic geography literature, few transition studies have systematically examined how the agency of transition intermediaries is affected by institutional contexts. Without a deeper understanding of this interplay, the literature risks a naive perception of transition intermediaries as free agents. This study investigates transition intermediation in diverse institutional contexts using a typology of organizational fields that draws on institutional theory. Cases of local government commitments to fleet electrification and cycling infrastructure show that crises allow incumbent organizations to diverge from existing institutional arrangements and intermediate for systems change. Findings also indicate that the social position of transition intermediaries in a field can mute the enabling effect of crises on transition intermediation. Similarly, findings show that transition intermediaries can legitimize their visions for systems change by using collective action framing to draw attention to conflict between existing institutions to diverge from existing institutional arrangements. As such, this study provides new insight into conditions affecting the agency of transition intermediaries for low-carbon mobility transition.

中文翻译：

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参与者、机构和机构背景：低碳出行转型的转型中介

转型中介机构被认为是可持续发展转型的关键参与者。虽然创新研究和经济地理学文献中已经探讨了中介机构的结构嵌入性，但很少有转型研究系统地研究转型中介机构的代理如何受到制度背景的影响。如果没有对这种相互作用有更深入的了解，文献就有可能将过渡中间人视为自由代理人。本研究利用制度理论的组织领域类型学研究了不同制度背景下的转型中介。地方政府对车队电气化和自行车基础设施承诺的案例表明，危机使现有组织偏离现有的制度安排和系统变革的中介。研究结果还表明，某个领域中转型中介的社会地位可以削弱危机对转型中介的有利影响。同样，研究结果表明，过渡中介机构可以通过使用集体行动框架来引起人们对现有机构之间冲突的关注，从而偏离现有的制度安排，从而使他们对系统变革的愿景合法化。因此，这项研究为影响低碳流动性转型的转型中介机构的作用提供了新的见解。