Sociology 279: Institutional Theories: Cultural /

Phenomenological Approaches

Class 1: Introduction

Copyright © 2011 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

Syllabus / Course Info

• All assignments, readings, and handouts are available online– Course website:

• http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~schofer/2011Soc279IT/home279IT.htm

– Course readings via webfiles:• https://webfiles.uci.edu/schofer/classes/2011soc219IT/• 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.

2X2 Table: Types of Theories

• Main typology:– Realist vs. Phenomenological– Micro vs. Macro

• Also: sub-types of realist• Functional, Economic, Political

Readings

– Amenta, Edwin and Kelly M. Ramsey. 2010. “Institutional Theory.”• A review of various institutionalisms

– Jepperson, Ronald L. 1991. “Institutions, Institutional Effects, and Institutionalism.” Pp. 143-163 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 carefully.

– Meyer, John W.  2008.  “Reflections on Institutional Theories of Organizations.”  In The Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism, ed. by R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, R. Suddaby & K. Sahlin-Andersson, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2007.  A review paper. Read carefully.

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, 4:803-32.

• 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.