Abstract
Although a central construct for sociologists, the concept of institution continues to elude clear and full specification. One reason for this lack of clarity is that about 50 years ago empirical researchers in the field of sociology turned their gaze downward, away from macro-sociological constructs in order to focus their attention on middle-range empirical projects. It took almost 20 years for the concept of the institution to work its back onto the empirical research agenda of mainstream sociologists. The new institutional project in organizational sociology led the way. Since then, scholars in this tradition have achieved a great deal but there is still much more to accomplish. Here, future directions for research are considered by reviewing how the concept of the institution has come to be treated by mainstream philosophers, sociologists of science and technology studies, and social network theorists.
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Notes
DiMaggio and Powell 1991 provide a preliminary assessment of these kinds of resonances. For a more contemporary review see the chapters collected in Greenwood et al. 2008. Friedland and Mohr (2004) trace the rise of cultural sociology during this same time period and link theories of institutions to concepts of culture.
The question of institutions was the topic of the 2003 Cultural Turn Conference (http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/ct) organized by Friedland and Mohr at UC Santa Barbara. All of the authors in this special issue were keynote speakers at that conference.
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Mohr, J.W., Friedland, R. Theorizing the institution: foundations, duality, and data. Theor Soc 37, 421–426 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-008-9071-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-008-9071-3