Structural change requires a controversy being triggered and settled.

Evidence

Any form of agency subjecting current social structures to a dispute for the first time will be called a trigger event. The outcome of the eventual settlement of the controversy determines whether social structure has been subjected to change or not. Regardless of the outcome, the existing social structures in combination with the available agents will supply another situation of potential ability. The story continues as the process of social becoming unfolds. — Georg Schreyögg and Jörg Sydow, The Hidden Dynamics of Path Dependence, 1073

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘trigger event’ and the controversy-settlement machinery that the rest of the chapter runs on.
• XREF: Structuration theory (Giddens) and path-dependence lock-in literatures both hinge on agency reproducing or defying structure.