COMM 3180-01Communication& Social Behavior

June 8, 2005

Language in Action:

Institutionalization

Discussion: Paper One

Paper One Description

Society and Human “Nature”

World-Openness: Underdeveloped instincts Organismic development outside the womb Ability to fashion environment

World-Closedness: If we didn’t have social systems, we’d live in

chaos. Once social systems develop, the must be

relatively “closed”

Understanding Institutionalization

What is an institution?Characteristics of institutions:

Habitualization: Reciprocal Typifications History Control: power in the last instance

An Institutional Example: Your Family

Institutionalization as a Process

Three dialectical “moments”: Externalization: Society is a human product. Objectivation: Society is an objective reality.

Reification Legitimation

Internalization: Humans are social products.SedimentationRolesLegitimation

Discourse and Subjectivity (Burr, Ch. 6)

Personality vs. IdentityIdentity and discourseSubject Positions and Interpellation

Doctor-Patient Teacher-Student

Identity is the sum total of subject positions we occupy at any given time

Identity as site of struggle and resistance

Structure and Agency: Structuration Theory

Anthony GiddensThe “Duality of Structure”

Structure is both enabling and constraining Structure is both an outcome of and a resource

for action.

Practices and Performances