David Joins Goliath. The Role of the Institutional Infrastructure in Centre–Periphery Dynamics Between Subfields

This study explores how Australian winemaking, once considered peripheral, came to influence the entire field and reshape its shared meanings and practices. Although subfields are often assumed to remain at the margins of their fields, our historical analysis shows how Australia drew on elements of its institutional infrastructure – such as professional networks, wine competitions and critics – to reconfigure the centre-periphery order of the field. We identify three mechanisms driving this process: camouflaged deviance, encroachment and integration. These findings highlight the role of subfield dynamics in driving field evolution, the role of the institutional infrastructure in that process and how we understand subfields.