3. The Conceptual Specificities of the Society of Meta-Organizations

In this chapter, I review the specificie of the concept of meta-organization as introduced by Ahrne and Brunsson. It has represented a major break from several dominant discourses, which usually exhibit one of two tendencies: 1) treating meta-organizations as if they were individual-based organizations, and 2) treating meta-organizations as if they were non-decided social orders—that is to say networks or institutions. Owing to their specific characteristics, meta-organizations are a valuable concept, yet they raise methodological challenges. The concept has been developed into an analytical framework to unpack its specificities and to operationalize it. This analytical lens can be used to study the processual dynamics of meta-organizations. It can be combined with other literature and approaches, in particular with literature on organized intermediaries.