* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Institutional Theories
Survey
Document related concepts
Social group wikipedia , lookup
Social network analysis wikipedia , lookup
Social network wikipedia , lookup
Social constructionism wikipedia , lookup
Index of sociology articles wikipedia , lookup
Structural functionalism wikipedia , lookup
History of sociology wikipedia , lookup
Environmental determinism wikipedia , lookup
Postdevelopment theory wikipedia , lookup
Sociological theory wikipedia , lookup
The Social Construction of Reality wikipedia , lookup
Social rule system theory wikipedia , lookup
Transcript
Sociology 219: Institutional Theories: Cultural / Phenomenological Approaches Class 1: Introduction Copyright © 2009 by Evan Schofer Agenda • 1. Review syllabus • 2. Introduce course topic: • Institutions… • Types of institutionalisms • Why cultural/phenomenological institutionalism? • 3. Explore some of the intellectual foundations of cultural/phenomenological institutionalism • Specifically, classic contributions from social psychology – Short class… wrap up ~11:00. Announcements • Talks – Today: Prof David Suarez, USC • Global proliferation of human rights in universities • 1:00pm, SSPB 4206 – Tomorrow: Prof. David Frank • Also sspb 4206 • Relates directly to material covered in this course Syllabus / Course Info • All assignments, readings, and handouts are available online – Course website: • http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~schofer/2009Soc219IT/home219IT.htm – Course readings via webfiles: • https://webfiles.uci.edu/schofer/classes/2009soc219IT/ • UCI ID & password required • Sign up for reading “mini-reports” today • Hand out sheet… Background: Institutional Theories • The 1980s saw the rise/revival of institutional scholarship in economics, political science, sociology, and other fields • Reactions (variously) to: • 1. Functionalism – Parsons; plus “lay functionalism” which crops up even today • 2. Materialism – ‘interest-based’ explanations • 3. Rationalism / Realism / Microeconomics – Emphasis on de-contextualized rational actors. Institutional Theories • “New” Institutionalisms took many forms: • 1. New institutional economics • Moving beyond pure rational actors in a vacuum… • The world is not made up entirely of markets… – Economic actors create organizations (firms, states) – Actors function within institutional frameworks (laws, etc) – Questions: • Under what conditions to actors form organizations & institutions? • How do institutions shape/channel economic behavior? Institutional Theories • 2. Institutionalism in International Relations: “International Regimes” • Prior theory (“neo-realism”) characterized states as rational actors in an anarchy (Waltz) • But, states cooperate via treaties, organizations (e.g., the WTO) • Again: What leads to cooperation/coordination? How do these “regimes” shape state behavior? Institutional Theories • 3. “Bringing the State Back In”… institutions in political sociology • The 1960s saw lots of research on voting behavior and pluralism/interest group representation… – Politics = aggregation of individual/group interests • Skocpol and others reasserted the importance of the state (i.e., governing institutions, policies, law) in channeling & shaping politics. • Also: attention to history, “path dependence” – The ways a particular policy gets implemented channels subsequent action, possibilities – Aka “historical institutionalism” Institutional Theories • 4. Institutionalism in organization research – 1960s scholarship emphasized the rational & functional features of organizations • Or, brought in context in a limited manner (“old institutionalism”) – e.g., politics / vested interests • New institutionalism emphasized embeddedness of organizations within a wider political, legal, cultural context Institutional Theories • Common theme of “institutionalisms”: • Greater attention to context within which social actors are embedded… – Key differences: • What kind of context? • What kind of actors? • What kind of action? Kinds of Context • (Fragile) agreements that rational/interested actors enter into • Economic actors may form a corporation to reduce transaction costs • Countries may enter into a treaty to improve security • Path-dependent / emergent features of history (arbitary) • Ex: Skocpol’s work on social policy – The way things developed in the past shape future possibilities • Ex: QWERTY keyboard Kinds of Actors / Action • Culture / ideology / “social order” that influences actors – or even “constitutes” them • Key issue: Actors aren’t the starting point… – Interests, preferences, perhaps even identities = shaped by social context • Ex: The phenomenological tradition – We are born into a world in which most social realities are already defined for us… – We “enact” rules of our world… • Others: • Powell: (emergent) culture & networks • Etc., etc. Kinds of Actors • Key distinction in modern sociological theories: Conceptions of actors/action – At one extreme: rational, interested actors – ex: microeconomics, rational choice theory – At the other extreme: “stage” actors that enact roles in society – Ex: phenomenological institutionalism – Various compromise positions • Ex: Bourdieu – habitus, field, etc. Why Phenomenology? • Why focus on cultural/phenomenological institutionalism? – Sociology continues to be dominated by theories that privilege actors & interests; & functionalism • In large part because wider culture seeps into sociological thinking – Yet, cultural/phenomenological institutionalism has been empirically very fruitful • It predicts things that others haven’t… sees things that are in our “blind spots” • In sum: It is a powerful but very non-intuitive way of thinking…. Worth learning. What is Phenomenology? • Phenomenology in philosophy (Husserl): study of subjective experience • Phenomenology in sociology (Schutz, Garfinkel): • Examination of the subjective or “lived world” of everyday life – Further elaborations in 1960’s, 70’s: • Focus on “taken-for-granted” features of reality • Attention to the socially/culturally constructed reality that we inhabit What is phenomenological institutionalism? • Ethnomethodology: a phenomenological tradition that focuses on how “reality” emerges from direct interaction • Related tradition: symbolic interaction • Phenomenological institutionalism (aka cultural institutionalism) • Similar in that it focuses on socially constructed realities… – But it doesn’t just look at immediate social interaction… • Instead, it looks at the broader culture and institutions of society. Readings • Jepperson, Ronald L. 1991. “Institutions, Institutional Effects, and Institutionalism.” Pp. 143163 in Walter W. Powell and Paul J. DiMaggio (eds.). The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. • Addresses foundational issues: what is an institution. Read closely. • DiMaggio, Paul J. and Walter W. Powell. 1991. “Introduction.” Pp. 1-38 in Walter W. Powell and Paul J. DiMaggio (eds.). The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. • Provides overview of many institutionalisms… plus a description of phenomenological tradition Readings • Two classic readings in organizations: • Meyer, John W. and Brian Rowan. 1977. "Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony." American Journal of Sociology, 83,2: 340-63. • DiMaggio, Paul, and Walter W. Powell. 1983. “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields.” American Sociological Review 48, 2: 147-60. • Moving away from older visions of organizations as bastions of rationality / efficiency – Research was showing the world to be more “Dilbert-like” than previously imagined… – New ideas: Bounded rationality, the “Garbage Can”, etc. – Result: Sociologists trying to re-think things… Readings • Recommended readings: • *March, James G. 1984. “The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life.” The American Political Science Review, Vol. 78, No. 3 (Sep., 1984), pp. 734-749 • Another overview of many institutionalisms • *Kathleen Thelen. 1999. “Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics.” Annual Review of Political Science. 2: 369-404. • Example of ‘historical institutionalism. • *Williamson, O. 1981. “The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost Approach.” American Journal of Sociology, 87:. • Example of economic institutionalism • *North, Douglass and B. Weingast. 1989. “Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth Century England.” The Journal of Economic History, 4:80332. • Example of economic institutionalism. Discussion & Break • Questions? Foundations: Social Psychology • Cultural/Phenomenological institutionalisms = a product of many intellectual currents • Cognitive Social Psychology: provided key insights about the extent to which humans: • 1. Are shaped by social context • 2. Depart from standard “rational actor” assumptions – Therefore, the tradition provides an important basis for thinking about actors as “socially constructed”. Group Discussion • Task: Take 10 minutes to read handouts: Foundational ideas from social psychology – Then we’ll have an open group discussion • • • • Sherif Asch Milgram Zimbardo – Issues: • Importance of context / situation • Dynamics of conformity • Action as rule-following culture as scripts, models.