From Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann.

The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise its the Sociology of Knowledge (Garden City, New York: nchor Books, !"##$, %%. &!'&&, &"'#!.

Society as a Human Product Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann

(t shou)d *e c)ear +rom the +oregoing that the statement that man %roduces himse)+ in no way im%)ies some sort o+ Promethean ,ision o+ the so)itary indi,idua). -an.s se)+' %roduction is a)ways, and o+ necessity, a socia) enter%rise. -en together %roduce a human en,ironment, with the tota)ity o+ its socio'cu)tura) and %sycho)ogica) +ormations. None o+ these +ormations may *e understood as %roducts o+ man.s *io)ogica) constitution, which, as indicated, %ro,ides on)y the outer )imits +or human %roducti,e acti,ity. /ust as it is im%ossi*)e +or man to de,e)o% as man in iso)ation, so it is im%ossi*)e +or man in iso)ation to %roduce a human en,ironment. 0o)itary human *eing is *eing on the anima) )e,e) (which, o+ course, man shares with other anima)s$. s soon as one deser,es %henomena that are s%eci+ica))y human, one enters the rea)m o+ the socia). -an.s s%eci+ic humanity and his socia)ity are ine1trica*)y intertwined. Homo sapiens is a)ways, and in the same measure, homo socius. The human organism )acks the necessary *io)ogica) means to %ro,ide sta*i)ity +or human conduct. 2uman e1istence, i+ it were thrown *ack on its organismic resources *y themse),es, wou)d *e e1istence in some sort o+ chaos. 0uch chaos is, howe,er, em%irica))y una,ai)a*)e, e,en though one may theoretica))y concei,e o+ it. 3m%irica))y, human e1istence takes %)ace in a conte1t o+ order, direction, sta*i)ity. The 4uestion then arises: From what does the em%irica))y e1isting sta*i)ity o+ human order deri,e5 n answer may *e gi,en on two )e,e)s. 6ne may +irst %oint to the o*,ious +act that a gi,en socia) order %recedes any indi,idua) organismic de,e)o%ment. That is, wor)d'o%enness, whi)e intrinsic to man.s *io)ogica) make'u%, is a)ways %reem%ted *y socia) order. 6ne may say that the *io)ogica))y intrinsic wor)d' o%enness o+ human e1istence is a)ways, and indeed must *e, trans+ormed *y socia) order into a re)ati,e wor)d'c)osedness. 7hi)e this rec)osure can ne,er a%%ro1imate the c)osedness o+ anima) e1istence, i+ on)y *ecause o+ its human)y %roduced and thus 8arti+icia)8 character, it is ne,erthe)ess ca%a*)e, most o+ the time, o+ %ro,iding direction and sta*i)ity +or the greater %art o+ human conduct. The 4uestion may then *e %ushed to another )e,e). 6ne may ask in what manner socia) order itse)+ arises. The most genera) answer to this 4uestion is that socia) order is a human %roduct. 6r, more %recise)y, an ongoing human %roduction. (t is %roduced *y man in the course o+ his ongoing e1terna)i9ation. 0ocia) order is not *io)ogica))y gi,en or deri,ed +rom any *io)ogica) data in its em%irica) mani+estations. 0ocia) order, need)ess to add, is a)so not gi,en in man.s natura) en,ironment, though %articu)ar +eatures o+ this may *e +actors in determining certain +eatures o+ a socia) order (+or e1am%)e, its economic or techno)ogica) arrangements$. 0ocia) order is not %art o+ the 8nature o+ things,8 and it cannot *e deri,ed +rom the 8)aws o+ nature.8 0ocia) order e1ists only as a %roduct o+ human acti,ity. No other onto)ogica) status may *e ascri*ed to it without ho%e)ess)y

o*+uscating its em%irica) mani+estations. Both in its genesis (socia) order is the resu)t o+ %ast human acti,ity$ and its e1istence in any instant o+ time (socia) order e1ists on)y and inso+ar as human acti,ity continues to %roduce it$ it is a human %roduct. 7hi)e the socia) %roducts o+ human e1terna)i9ation ha,e a character sui generis as against *oth their organismic and their en,ironmenta) conte1t, it is im%ortant to stress that e1terna)i9ation as such is an anthro%o)ogica) necessity. 2uman *eing is im%ossi*)e in a c)osed s%here o+ 4uiescent interiority. 2uman *eing must ongoing)y e1terna)i9e itse)+ in acti,ity. This anthro%o)ogica) necessity is grounded in man.s *io)ogica) e4ui%ment. The inherent insta*i)ity o+ the human organism makes it im%erati,e that man himse)+ %ro,ide a sta*)e en,ironment +or his conduct. -an himse)+ must s%ecia)i9e and direct his dri,es. These *io)ogica) +acts ser,e as a necessary %resu%%osition +or the %roduction o+ socia) order. (n other words, a)though no e1isting socia) order can *e deri,ed +rom *io)ogica) data, the necessity +or socia) order as such stems +rom man.s *io)ogica) e4ui%ment. To understand the causes, other than those %osited *y the *io)ogica) constants +or the emergence, maintenance and transmission o+ a socia) order one must under take an ana)ysis that e,entuates in a theory o+ institutiona)i9ation.

Origins of Institutionalization

)) human acti,ity is su*:ect to ha*itua)i9ation. ny action that is re%eated +re4uent)y *ecomes cast into a %attern, which can then *e re%roduced with an economy o+ e++ort and which, ipso facto, is a%%rehended *y its %er+ormer as that %attern. 2a*itua)i9ation +urther im%)ies that the action in 4uestion may *e %er+ormed again in the +uture in the same manner and with the same economica) e++ort. This is true o+ non'socia) as we)) as o+ socia) acti,ity. 3,en the so)itary indi,idua) on the %ro,er*ia) desert is)and ha*itua)i9es his acti,ity. 7hen he wakes u% in the morning and resumes his attem%ts to construct a canoe out o+ matchsticks, he may mum*)e to himse)+, 8There ( go again,8 as he starts on ste% one o+ an o%erating %rocedure consisting o+, say, ten ste%s. (n other words, e,en so)itary man has at )east the com%any o+ his o%erating %rocedures. 2a*itua)i9ed actions, o+ course, retain their meaning+u) character +or the indi,idua) a)though the meanings in,o),ed *ecome em*edded as routines in his genera) stock o+ know)edge, taken +or granted *y him and at hand +or his %ro:ects into the +uture. 2a*itua)i9ation carries with it the im%ortant %sycho)ogica) gain that choices are narrowed. 7hi)e in theory there may *e a hundred ways to go a*out the %ro:ect o+ *ui)ding a canoe out o+ matchsticks, ha*itua)i9ation narrows these down to one. This +rees the indi,idua) +rom the *urden o+ 8a)) those decisions,8 %ro,iding a %sycho)ogica) re)ie+ that has its *asis in man.s undirected instinctua) structure. 2a*itua)i9ation %ro,ides the direction and the s%ecia)i9ation o+ acti,ity that is )acking in man.s *io)ogica) e4ui%ment, thus re)ie,ing the accumu)ation o+ tensions that resu)t +rom undirected dri,es. nd *y %ro,iding a sta*)e *ackground in which human acti,ity may %roceed with a minimum o+ decision'making most o+ the time, it +rees energy +or such decisions as may *e necessary on certain occasions. (n other words,

the *ackground o+ ha*itua)i9ed acti,ity o%ens u% a +oreground +or de)i*eration and inno,ation. (n terms o+ the meanings *estowed *y man u%on his acti,ity, ha*itua)i9ation makes it unnecessary +or each situation to *e de+ined anew, ste% *y ste%. )arge ,ariety o+ situations may *e su*sumed under its %rede+initions. The acti,ity to *e undertaken in these situations can then *e antici%ated. 3,en a)ternati,es o+ conduct can *e assigned standard weights. These %rocesses o+ ha*itua)i9ation %recede any institutiona)i9ation, indeed can he made to a%%)y to a hy%othetica) so)itary indi,idua) detached +rom any socia) interaction. The +act that e,en such a so)itary indi,idua), assuming that he has *een +ormed as a se)+ (as we wou)d ha,e to assume in the case o+ our matchstick'canoe *ui)der$, wi)) ha*itua)i9e his acti,ity in accordance with *iogra%hica) e1%erience o+ a wor)d o+ socia) institutions %receding his so)itude need not concern us at the moment. 3m%irica))y, the more im%ortant %art o+ the ha*itua)i9ation o+ human acti,ity is coe1tensi,e with the )atter.s institutiona)i9ation. The 4uestion then *ecomes how do institutions arise. (nstitutiona)i9ation occurs whene,er there is a reci%roca) ty%i+ication o+ ha*itua)i9ed actions *y ty%es o+ actors. Put di++erent)y, any such ty%i+ication is an institution. 7hat must *e stressed is the reci%rocity o+ institutiona) ty%i+ications and the ty%ica)ity o+ not on)y the actions *ut a)so the actors in institutions. The ty%i+ications o+ ha*itua)i9ed actions that constitute institutions are a)ways shared ones. They are available to a)) the mem*ers o+ the %articu)ar socia) grou% in 4uestion, and the institution itse)+ ty%i+ies indi,idua) actors as we)) as indi,idua) actions. The institution %osits that actions o+ ty%e ; wi)) *e %er+ormed *y actors o+ ty%e ;. For e1am%)e, the institution o+ the )aw %osits that heads sha)) *e cho%%ed o++ in s%eci+ic ways under s%eci+ic circumstances, and that s%eci+ic ty%es o+ indi,idua)s sha)) do the cho%%ing (e1ecutioners, say, or mem*ers o+ an im%ure caste, or ,irgins under a certain age, or those who ha,e *een designated *y an orac)e$. (nstitutions +urther im%)y historicity and contro). <eci%roca) ty%i+ications o+ actions are *ui)t u% in the course o+ a shared history. They cannot *e created instantaneous)y. (nstitutions a)ways ha,e a history, o+ which they are the %roducts. (t is im%ossi*)e to understand an institution ade4uate)y without an understanding o+ the historica) %rocess in which it was %roduced. (nstitutions a)so, *y the ,ery +act o+ their e1istence, contro) human conduct *y setting u% %rede+ined %atterns o+ conduct, which channe) it in one direction as against the many other directions that wou)d theoretica))y *e %ossi*)e. (t is im%ortant to stress that this contro))ing character is inherent in institutiona)i9ation as such, %rior to or a%art +rom any mechanisms o+ sanctions s%eci+ica))y set u% to su%%ort an institution. These mechanisms (the sum o+ which constitute what is genera))y ca))ed a system o+ socia) contro)$ do, o+ course, e1ist in many institutions and in a)) the agg)omerations o+ institutions that we ca)) societies. Their contro))ing e++icacy, howe,er, is o+ a secondary or su%%)ementary kind. s we sha)) see again )ater, the %rimary socia) contro) is gi,en in the e1istence o+ an institution as such. To say that a segment o+ human acti,ity has *een institutiona)i9ed is a)ready to say that this segment o+ human acti,ity has *een su*sumed under socia) contro). dditiona) contro) mechanisms are re4uired on)y inso+ar as the %rocesses o+ institutiona)i9ation are )ess than com%)ete)y success+u). Thus, +or instance, the )aw

may %ro,ide that anyone who *reaks the incest ta*oo wi)) ha,e his head cho%%ed o++. This %ro,ision may *e necessary *ecause there ha,e *een cases when indi,idua)s o++ended against the ta*oo. (t is un)ike)y that this sanction wi)) ha,e to *e in,oked continuous)y (un)ess the institution de)ineated *y the incest ta*oo is itse)+ in the course o+ disintegration, a s%ecia) case that we need not e)a*orate here$. (t makes )itt)e sense, there+ore, to say that human se1ua)ity is socia))y contro))ed *y *eheading certain indi,idua)s. <ather, human se1ua)ity is socia))y contro))ed *y its institutiona)i9ation in the course o+ the %articu)ar history in 4uestion. 6ne may add, o+ course, that the incest ta*oo itse)+ is nothing *ut the negati,e side o+ an assem*)age o+ ty%i+ications, which de+ine in the +irst %)ace which se1ua) conduct is incestuous and which is not. (n actua) e1%erience institutions genera))y mani+est themse),es in co))ecti,ities containing considera*)e num*ers o+ %eo%)e. (t is theoretica))y im%ortant, howe,er, to em%hasi9e that the institutiona)i9ing %rocess o+ reci%roca) ty%i+ication wou)d occur e,en i+ two indi,idua)s *egan to interact de novo. . . . A and a)one are res%onsi*)e +or ha,ing constructed this wor)d. A and remain ca%a*)e o+ changing or a*o)ishing it. 7hat is more, since they themse),es ha,e sha%ed this wor)d in the course o+ a shared *iogra%hy which they can remem*er, the wor)d thus sha%ed a%%ears +u))y trans%arent to them. They understand the wor)d that they themse),es ha,e made. )) this changes in the %rocess o+ transmission to the new generation. The o*:ecti,ity o+ the institutiona) wor)d 8thickens8 and 8hardens,8 not on)y +or the chi)dren, *ut (*y a mirror e++ect$ +or the %arents as we)). The 8There we go again8 now *ecomes 8This is how these things are done.8 wor)d so regarded attains a +irmness in consciousness= it *ecomes rea) in an e,er more massi,e way and it can no )onger *e changed so readi)y. For the chi)dren, es%ecia))y in the ear)y %hase o+ their socia)i9ation into it, it *ecomes the wor)d. For the %arents, it )oses its %)ay+u) 4ua)ity and *ecomes 8serious.8 For the chi)dren, the %arenta))y transmitted wor)d is not +u))y trans%arent. 0ince they had no %art in sha%ing it, it con+ronts them as a gi,en rea)ity that, )ike nature, is o%a4ue in %)aces at )east. 6n)y at this %oint does it *ecome %ossi*)e to s%eak o+ a socia) wor)d at a)), in the sense o+ a com%rehensi,e and gi,en rea)ity con+ronting the indi,idua) in a manner ana)ogous to the rea)ity o+ the natura) wor)d. 6n)y in this way, as an o*:ecti,e wor)d, can the socia) +ormations *e transmitted to a new generation. (n the ear)y %hases o+ socia)i9ation the chi)d is 4uite inca%a*)e o+ distinguishing *etween the o*:ecti,ity o+ natura) %henomena and the o*:ecti,ity o+ the socia) +ormations. To take the most im%ortant item o+ socia)i9ation, )anguage a%%ears to the chi)d as inherent in the nature o+ things, and he cannot gras% the notion o+ its con,entiona)ity. thing is what it is ca))ed, and it cou)d not *e ca))ed anything e)se. )) institutions a%%ear in the same way, as gi,en, una)tera*)e and se)+'e,ident. 3,en in our em%irica))y un)ike)y e1am%)e o+ %arents ha,ing constructed an institutiona) wor)d de novo, the o*:ecti,ity o+ this wor)d wou)d *e increased +or them *y the socia)i9ation o+ their chi)dren, *ecause the o*:ecti,ity e1%erienced *y the chi)dren wou)d re+)ect *ack u%on their own e1%erience o+ this wor)d. 3m%irica))y, o+ course, the institutiona) wor)d transmitted *y most %arents a)ready has the character o+ historica) and o*:ecti,e rea)ity. The %rocess o+ transmission sim%)y strengthens the %arents. sense o+ rea)ity, i+ on)y *ecause, to %ut it crude)y, i+ one says, 8This is how these things are done,8 o+ten enough one *e)ie,es it onese)+.

n institutiona) wor)d, then, is e1%erienced as an o*:ecti,e rea)ity. (t has a history that antedates the indi,idua).s *irth and is not accessi*)e to his *iogra%hica) reco))ection. (t was there *e+ore he was *orn, and it wi)) *e there a+ter his death. This history itse)+, as the tradition o+ the e1isting institutions, has the character o+ o*:ecti,ity. The indi,idua).s *iogra%hy is a%%rehended as an e%isode )ocated within the o*:ecti,e history o+ the society. The institutions, as historica) and o*:ecti,e +acticities, con+ront the indi,idua) as undenia*)e +acts. The institutions are there, e1terna) to him, %ersistent in their rea)ity, whether he )ikes it or not. 2e cannot wish them away. They resist his attem%ts to change or e,ade them. They ha,e coerci,e %ower o,er him, *oth in themse),es, *y the sheer +orce o+ their +acticity, and through the contro) mechanisms that are usua))y attached to the most im%ortant o+ them. The o*:ecti,e rea)ity o+ institutions is not diminished i+ the indi,idua) does not understand their %ur%ose or their mode o+ o%eration. 2e may e1%erience )arge sectors o+ the socia) wor)d as incom%rehensi*)e, %erha%s o%%ressi,e in their o%a4ueness, *ut rea) nonethe)ess. 0ince institutions e1ist as e1terna) rea)ity, the indi,idua) cannot understand them *y intros%ections. 2e must 8go out8 and )earn a*out them, :ust as he must to )earn a*out nature. This remains true e,en though the socia) wor)d, as a human)y %roduced rea)ity, is %otentia))y understanda*)e in a way not %ossi*)e in the case o+ the natura) wor)d. (t is im%ortant to kee% in mind that the o*:ecti,ity o+ the institutiona) wor)d, howe,er massi,e it may a%%ear to the indi,idua), is a human)y %roduced, constructed o*:ecti,ity. The %rocess *y which the e1terna)i9ed %roducts o+ human acti,ity attain the character o+ o*:ecti,ity is o*:ecti,ation. The institutiona) wor)d is o*:ecti,ated human acti,ity, and so is e,ery sing)e institution. (n other words des%ite the o*:ecti,ity that marks the socia) wor)d in human e1%erience, it does not there*y ac4uire an onto)ogica) status a%art +rom the human acti,ity that %roduced it. The %arado1 that man is ca%a*)e o+ %roducing a wor)d that he then e1%eriences as something other than a human %roduct wi)) concern us )ater on. t the moment, it is im%ortant to em%hasi9e that the re)ationshi% *etween man, the %roducer, and the socia) wor)d, his %roduct, is and remains a dia)ectica) one. That is, man (not o+ course, in iso)ation *ut in his co))ecti,ities$ and his socia) wor)d interact with each other. The %roduct acts *ack u%on the %roducer. 31terna)i9ation and o*:ecti,ation are moments in a continuing dia)ectica) %rocess, which is interna)i9ation (*y which the o*:ecti,ated socia) wor)d is retro:ected into consciousness in the course o+ socia)i9ation$, wi)) occu%y us in considera*)e detai) )ater on. (t is a)ready %ossi*)e, howe,er, to see the +undamenta) re)ationshi% o+ these three dia)ectica) moments in socia) rea)ity. 3ach o+ them corres%onds to an essentia) characteri9ation o+ the socia) wor)d. Society is a human product! Society is an ob"ective reality! #an is a social product! (t may a)so a)ready *e e,ident that an ana)ysis o+ the socia) wor)d that )ea,es out any one o+ these three moments wi)) *e distorti,e. 6ne may +urther add that on)y with the transmission o+ the socia) wor)d to a new generation (that is, interna)i9ation as e++ectuated in socia)i9ation$ does the +undamenta) socia) dia)ectic a%%ear in its tota)ity. To re%eat, on)y with the a%%earance o+ a new generation can one %ro%er)y s%eak o+ a socia) wor)d.