the behavior of its individual
citizens—imposing social norms,
and stifling individuality. Jürgen
Habermas was similarly critical of
institutional power, but argued that
this can only be wielded so long
as the institutions are trusted by
the people. More recently (and
controversially), Michel Maffesoli
has suggested that as people
become disillusioned with
institutions, they form new social
groupings along tribal lines, with
corresponding new institutions.
The social influence of religious
institutions, described famously
by Karl Marx as “the opium of the
people,” declined with the growth
of bureaucracies, and during the
20th century most states had (at
least nominally) a form of secular
government. Nevertheless, today
some 75 percent of the world’spopulation still identify themselves
as belonging to a recognized
faith community, and in many
places religion is increasingly
becoming a social force.Individualism and society
As well as studying the nature and
scope of institutions in society,
sociologists in the latter part of the
20th century have taken a more
interpretive approach, examining
the effects of these institutions on
the individual members of society.
Max Weber had warned of the
stultifying effects of bureaucracy,
trapping people in the “iron cage”
of rationalization, and later Erving
Goffman described the effects
of institutionalization, when
individuals have become so used to
living with an institution they can
no longer do without it. A particularexample of this is our increasing
reliance on medicine as a means of
curing all ills, as described by Ivan
Illich. Education, too, came under
scrutiny as an institutional means
of fostering social attitudes and
maintaining a desired social order.
But it was Émile Durkheim who
recognized the conflict between
individualism and institutional
expectations of conformity. His
concept of “anomie,” a mismatch
between an individual’s beliefs and
desires and those of society, was
taken up by Robert K. Merton in his
explanation of what was considered
deviant behavior. Howard S. Becker
developed this further, suggesting
that any behavior could be
considered deviant if an institution
labels it as such, and, according to
Stanley Cohen, the modern media
demonizes things in just this way. ■THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS 253
1970–84 1973 1976 1988
Jürgen Habermas’s
Legitimation Crisis explains
how institutions can lose the
right to exercise social
control if they do not have
the confidence of the people.In Schooling in Capitalist
America, Samuel Bowles
and Herbert Gintis say
education instills attitudes
and dispositions via a
“hidden curriculum.”In The Time of Tribes,
Michel Maffesoli says
that individualism is
declining as people
try to create new
social groupings.Michel Foucault
discusses how
governments use
policies to shape
citizens and
society.1966 1972 1975 1977
Stanley Cohen’s Folk
Devils and Moral
Panics is inspired by
media coverage of
violent clashes
between mods and
rockers in 1964.Ivan Illich,
in Medical Nemesis:
The Expropriation
of Health, claims that the
medical establishment
constitutes a “major
threat to health.”Paul Willis’s
Learning to Labor
describes how
education
reproduces and
perpetuates class
distinctions.Bryan Wilson
discusses the
diminishing social
role of religion
in Religion
in Secular Society.