Roberto Garvía is Professor of Sociology at the University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. His research has focused on the sociology of organizations, comparative historical sociology, economic sociology, and sociolinguistics.

'This book is institutional theory at its best. It is on a par with the classics in that school. Garvia’s book shows the importance of historical case studies to unravel the evolutionary dynamics of organisations and their embeddedness in large institutional contexts. It is above all a fascinating account of the process of 'displacement of goals' in one organization. We are surrounding by them and yet they are so poorly studied. Organizing the Blind helps to fill that void thanks to the enormous research craft of the author.' - José Luis Alvarez, INSEAD, France 'In Organizing the Blind, Garvía shows that organizations are malleable tools that adapt to changing circumstances, and depart from their original purposes in order to survive and thrive. Drawing on a prodigious amount of archival work and interviews with key decision-makers, he dissects the Spanish National Organization for the Blind, praising its achievements and exposing its failings and contradictions. A major contribution to the sociology of organizations and to political sociology, which echoes and amplifies the theoretical insights of Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance and Robert Michels’s iron law of oligarchy.' - Mauro F. Guillen, University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A

• Introduction Chapter 1. Origins Chapter 2. The Challenge of the Original Goals Chapter 3. A New Organizational Culture Chapter 4. The Blind and People with Other Disabilities Chapter 5. Gigantism and Containment Chapter 6. The Future of the ONCE

Roberto Garvía is Professor of Sociology at the University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain. His research has focused on the sociology of organizations, comparative historical sociology, economic sociology, and sociolinguistics.

'This book is institutional theory at its best. It is on a par with the classics in that school. Garvia’s book shows the importance of historical case studies to unravel the evolutionary dynamics of organisations and their embeddedness in large institutional contexts. It is above all a fascinating account of the process of 'displacement of goals' in one organization. We are surrounding by them and yet they are so poorly studied. Organizing the Blind helps to fill that void thanks to the enormous research craft of the author.' - José Luis Alvarez, INSEAD, France 'In Organizing the Blind, Garvía shows that organizations are malleable tools that adapt to changing circumstances, and depart from their original purposes in order to survive and thrive. Drawing on a prodigious amount of archival work and interviews with key decision-makers, he dissects the Spanish National Organization for the Blind, praising its achievements and exposing its failings and contradictions. A major contribution to the sociology of organizations and to political sociology, which echoes and amplifies the theoretical insights of Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance and Robert Michels’s iron law of oligarchy.' - Mauro F. Guillen, University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A

• Introduction Chapter 1. Origins Chapter 2. The Challenge of the Original Goals Chapter 3. A New Organizational Culture Chapter 4. The Blind and People with Other Disabilities Chapter 5. Gigantism and Containment Chapter 6. The Future of the ONCE