A Place at the Window: Theorizing Organizational Change for Advocacy of the Marginalized

Using Giddens's Structuration Theory as a lens, this article theorizes an organizational change perspective that emphasizes the role of the marginalized. The context for this work is the current changes within the Roman Catholic Church, with respect to its teaching and norms around homosexuality. The change perspective proposes the emergence of Legitimate Alternative Structural Configurations (LASC) from which organizational actors find guidance for enacting behaviors that promote greater inclusion of the marginalized in a global organization. Six propositions are offered for considering the ways in which marginal actors facilitate the emergence of LASC. This conceptualization of change provides a useful lens for recognizing, understanding, and promoting the transformation of oppressive organizational structures (in this case, the Roman Catholic Church), while emphasizing the role of marginal actors in the process of change.