How Institutions Think

How Institutions Think
AuthorMary Douglas
SubjectCultural anthropology
PublisherSyracuse University Press
Publication date1986
ISBN0-8156-2369-0
Preceded byIn the Active Voice (1982) 
Followed byConstructive Drinking (1987) 

How Institutions Think (first published 1986) is the best-known book from cultural anthropologist Mary Douglas . (Not to be confused by the 2017 anthology of the same name). The book is considered a classic in the field and continues to be studied and cited in anthropology and organizational theory.

Summary

This is the published version of the Frank W. Abrams Lectures delivered by Douglas at Syracuse University in March 1985. Douglas offers a critique of the rational choice theory, rooted in social anthropology and a structural functionalist approach. She builds on the work of Émile Durkheim and Ludwig Fleck to explain how humans cooperate and the role of institutions (in the sociological sense) in shaping ways of thinking.

She argues that rational choice theory cannot explain certain empirically observed phenomena, such as self-sacrifice or non-authoritarian, 'latent', groups. The book discusses alternative explanations, such as the building of analogies to support common understandings from early human communities.

References

  1. ↑ Douglas, Mary (1986-06-01). How Institutions Think. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0206-4.
  2. ↑ "How Institutions Think". CCS Bard. Retrieved 2026-09-24.
  3. ↑ Magne, Laurent (2010-10-05). "How Institutions Think". Society and Business Review. 5 (3): 309–314. doi:10.1108/sbr.2010.5.3.309.3. ISSN 1746-5680.
  4. ↑ "How Institutions Think". Rankless. doi:10.2307/2069673. Retrieved 2026-09-24.
  5. ↑ Clegg, Stewart; Logue, Danielle; McCabe, Angela; Mol, Joeri; Phillips, Nelson; Pierides, Dean; Sewell, Graham (2016-01-01). "How Institutions Really Think: Mary Douglas and Meaningful Organizations". Academy of Management Proceedings. 2016: 12912. doi:10.5465/ambpp.2016.12912symposium.
  6. ↑ Hacking, Ian (1986-12-18). "Knowledge". London Review of Books. Vol. 08, no. 22. ISSN 0260-9592. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  7. ↑ Kearl, Michael C. (1988). "How Institutions Think.Mary Douglas". American Journal of Sociology. 94 (1): 206–208. doi:10.1086/228980. ISSN 0002-9602.
  8. ↑ Logue, Danielle M; Clegg, Stewart; Gray, John (2016-07-01). "Social organization, classificatory analogies and institutional logics: Institutional theory revisits Mary Douglas". Human Relations. 69 (7): 1587–1609. doi:10.1177/0018726715614637. hdl:10453/43962. ISSN 0018-7267. S2CID 147526142.