Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the practices of orientation and articulation are used by a bureaucracy to address extreme uncertainty, both from the external context and internal structure. Questions how we are to understand bureaucracy in places where the bureaucracy is uncertain about itself.

Paper long abstract:

In 2017, with high staff turnover, Ecuador's National Institute of the Popular Solidarity Economy (IEPS) was highly unstable. It was constructed around an ambiguous concept and was thus rife with uncertainty. The Popular Solidarity Economy is supposed to be an alternative approach to economics—thatof 21st Century Socialism in Latin America. However, with a myriad of terms used interchangeably, few can agree on what exactly it is. Thus, I examine the strategies and practices of a bureaucracy built on an unstable concept during a time of great uncertainty. How does the bureaucratic machine function while its parts are constantly being replaced?

In response, I examine the practices of orientation and articulation. The former is an attempt to align the perspectives of participants so they act in a coherent fashion. This, in theory, builds to what was described as 'articulation'—a way of working together, each on their individual task, but with the parts interacting smoothly, so as to create a seamless whole. This forces us to take seriously the worldview of particular functionaries and pay attention to their understanding of both their role in the government, and the role of their particular institution in the country. It is not that the bureaucratic machine does not shape the perceptions of those that make it up, but that in contexts of great uncertainty, this must be an explicit effort, albeit enacted through less direct means. I therefore ask what we can understand about bureaucracy in contexts where bureaucracy is uncertain about itself.