Institutional Logics, Empowerment Structures, and the Service Space Production of the Communist Youth League—A Case Study of the “Youth Homeland” Project in City G

Abstract

This study aims to address a core theoretical and practical question: Under the dual constraints of institutional limitations and resource scarcity, how does the Communist Youth League, as a mass organization, actively produce service spaces to fulfill its service functions? To explore this question, our analysis integrates Lefebvre’s theory of space production with the institutional logics perspective to construct an analytical framework of “institutional logics–empowerment structure–organizational space production.” Through a case analysis of the “Youth Homeland” project in City G, this study finds that the Communist Youth League is not passively constrained by institutional environments and resource limitations. Instead, it proactively leverages its “structural hole” advantage at the intersection of multiple institutional logics—political, social, and professional—by employing a combined strategy of administrative empowerment, social empowerment, and technological empowerment to secure critical resources for the production of service spaces. Among these, administrative empowerment defines the core boundaries and legitimacy of service spaces, social empowerment expands their peripheral boundaries and resource networks, and technological empowerment reshapes the processes and effectiveness of service delivery. The investigation further reveals that institutional logics determine the empowerment structure, the integration of institutional factors opens windows of opportunity for space production, and institutional changes drive the transformation and restructuring of service spaces. The article’s theoretical contribution lies in expanding the study of organizational space production from an internal material analysis to an external social field perspective. It introduces “institution,” “agency,” and “co-production” into organizational space research, uncovering the micro-mechanisms through which mass organizations strategically employ empowerment to expand their action spaces by leveraging institutional logics in an authoritarian context. This offers a new analytical perspective for understanding the service functions and transformation of mass organizations and similar institutions in contemporary China.