Artifacts and Organizations

14

Artifacts, Articulation Work and Institutional Residue

William N. Kaghan

Touro University International

Michael Lounsbury

Cornell University

Traditionally, sociologists and anthropologists have been concerned with the role artifacts play in maintaining social order (e.g., Durkheim, 1965; Geertz, 1973). For instance, consumption of different kinds of goods can symbolize membership in a particular class or status group, thereby reproducing societal stratification (Bourdieu, 1984a; Veblen, 1979). In a similar fashion, organizational researchers have begun to explore the role of artifacts in establishing and maintaining organizational order (e.g., Gagliardi, 1990; Pratt & Rafaeli, 1997). They have been particularly interested in how artifacts ...