Reconstructing the Social Construction of Reality

Area of Science:

• Sociology of knowledge
• Social construction of reality

Background:

• Legitimation and institutionalization are often viewed as intertwined processes.
• Previous research has not fully captured the complex interplay between these two concepts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To differentiate legitimation and institutionalization as distinct yet related processes.
• To develop a new theoretical framework for understanding the social construction of reality.
• To offer a typology that accounts for various outcomes of these processes.

Main Methods:

• Theory building approach.
• Development of a typology to categorize the social construction of reality.
• Analysis of legitimation and institutionalization as separate processes.

Main Results:

• A typology with four distinct pathways: instantiating, realizing, aspiring, and missing.
• Identification of legitimation as a process that can lead toward or stem from institutionalization.
• Framework for understanding social reality construction through mutual causal emergence or suppression.

Conclusions:

• The proposed typology provides a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between legitimation and institutionalization.
• This framework enhances the sociology of knowledge by explicating social reality construction.
• The model is applicable to both stable periods and the "liquid times" of uncertainty.