1

Institutional Economic Theory

Economics 451

University of Missouri-Kansas City

CeremonyTechnology

Institutions

Tools & Skills

Instrumental Logic/Behavior

Ceremonial Logic/Behavior

Culture

Myth, Legend, Tradition

The Veblenian Dichotomy

Generalizations Regarding Ceremonial Behavior

Although there is enormous diversity of ceremonial patterns of different societies

in different parts of the world, and also great differences in ceremonial patterns of

the same society over time, as, e.g., the differences between ancient and

modern Italian society, nevertheless, it is possible to identify some major features

of ceremonies.

 

1. Power, authority, class inequality, rank, status, superior/ subordinate are

based on the ceremonial aspect and all purport to rest on differences in

competence and hence are quasi-technological; Veblen described this as

"ceremonial adequacy."

 

2. Norms justify and sanctify the above. Some are deemed of major importance to the welfare

of society - a prosperity code - and observance of these is binding on all members. The

norms determine friends/enemies, right/wrong, good/evil, and such. They also purport to

rest on tested, quasi-technological, standards.

 3. Preliterate societies had legends, mythical stories to authenticate the above. These tend to

evolve into ideologies/theologies under the supervision of professional or semi-

professional

functionaries, e.g., religious theologies; secular ideologies, as, doctrines of capitalism and

fascism.

4. Emotional conditioning paves the way to emotional arousal when appropriate symbols are

invoked. Emotional confirmation tends to reinforce ideological commitment. Thus, although

Marxism and capitalism are primarily secular doctrines, emotional commitment raises them

to the level of religious commitment on occasion. Modern commitments to nationalism and

economic ideologies make them more significant than religious commitments, and also

make them the most dangerous sources of conflict.

5. Legitimacy is conferred by ritual and ceremony.

6. Ceremonies are past-binding and involve combined continuities and discon tinuities with

antecedent ceremonies.

.

7. The method of knowing, or arriving at the validity of ceremonial values: tradition,

authority, self-evident truths, faith.

8. The inequalities and authority defined by ceremonies are usually supported by the

socialization process. Every society possesses a set of social traditions, beliefs, and habits

that are deemed necessary, revered, and faithfully taught to each oncoming generation.

"Norms" are standards for such judgments as right and wrong, truth and falsehood,

beautiful, ugly. The norms and mores teach belief in the correctness of the inequalities of

authority. When nations began to adopt public education systems, they were rapidly turned

into instruments for teaching patriotic allegiance to the state, the prevailing economic

institutions and, in countries that support religious schools, religious organizations.

9. The ceremonies form a network of means of which they support and reinforce each

other. Family indoctrination teaches respect and reverence for church and nation, and church

and state support family. ceremonies support great inequalities between humans and, its

beneficiaries or vested interests have the strongest of reasons to support and perpetuate the

status quo.

One of the most powerful reasons ceremonies are past-binding and resistant to

change is that the entire population has been taught to believe in the truthfulness and

worthiness of it’s ceremonies. It is seen as a prosperity code whereby society prospers if it

holds fast to the traditional way of life, but calamity and decline befall the society that departs

from tradition. In addition, vested interests have a supreme incentive to perpetuate

arrangements of which they are the chief beneficiaries. They usually exercise a major

influence over communication systems, including educational ones.

Our medieval ancestors found no intellectual difficulty in holding to the conviction

that a minority of people - monarchs, nobles, and clergy - should control the majority in all of

the affairs of life. It was "obvious" to them that some kinds of people should dominate others.

9 continued

Beginning in the 18th century, intellectual inquiry questioned traditional authority as

it had never been questioned before, and this questioning has continued more or

less actively ever since. But the process has not ushered in an egalitarian society

by any means, and has not, by some standards, ushered in a really functional

political democracy. Notwithstanding our tradition of questioning authority, there is

practically universal acceptance of the belief that it is "obvious" that those who

possess money should dominate the economy.

10. Although ceremonies tend to resist change, they do change. Most change

(major) is due to the fact that technological innovations change the environment over

time to such a great extent that the traditional ceremonies ceases to function

effectively. To cite two revolutionary times: the technological revolution that ushered in

domestic plants and animals brought with it such extensive changes in the

environment, that most ceremonies underwent major changes, although in some

cases they were modifications of antecedent ceremonies. The technology that

ushered in the industrial society also changed the environment so greatly that

traditional ceremonies became dysfunctional by way of conflicting with the

requirements of industrial activity, and were modified significantly although, again, the

new ceremonies were modifications of antecedent ceremonies

11.The ways of knowing in the ceremonial realm are different from the ways of knowing in

the realm of science and technology. The surest path to truth, according to medieval

European thought, was by faith in the authority of the holy book, and by revelation, divine

inspiration. Confidence in tradition as a path to truth seemed confirmed by the fact that

tradition had been a sure and reliable guide to humans from time immemorial; its longevity

was evidence of its truth. In every stable society some ideas are so widely accepted

without question that they are seen as self-evident truths, truths that could be accepted a

priori as the foundation upon which to build systems of thought. These would be concepts,

held to be beyond challenge because they are held by faith, rest on authority (divine or

otherwise), and achieve the status of self-evident. They are also seen as absolute, final,

eternal, truths.

12. ceremonies are especially resistant to change when there is a populous

society with long-standing and entrenched traditions. There are situations,

however, in which ceremonies are comparatively weak or fragile and, where they

offer comparatively little resistance to change. A frontier is a place where

ceremonies are likely to be weak, permissive, and offer less resistance to change.

All populations, as in some of the Pacific Islands, often see their ceremonies

shattered when outsiders with more formidable technology impose control. The

question of whether ceremonies may make a positive contribution to change,

facilitate change, is controversial and will not be considered here.

13. ceremonies are not simply non-technological, they are pseudo-technological, in

the sense that they purport to be functional. They purport to 'make-possible'

some essential activities and outcomes upon which the well-being of the society

depends. Thus, the semi-divine pharaohs subsequently provide abundant crops:

correct religious observances are followed by planting, cultivating and harvesting

and abundant crops. The fact that desired consequences follow correct religious

practices are seen as proof of the efficacy of the ceremonial practices and hence

the correctness of valuing these ceremonies.

14. The path to truth in the realm of technology is probably as old as the ceremonial

path to truth, and took the form of discoveries and inventions, accidental or

otherwise, of a tool-making-using character.

15. Since every set of ceremonies provides for or defines inequalities, ranks,

statuses, it is quite understandable that those who are better off in the social hierarchy

should seek to perpetuate it for themselves and their children. Those in the middle and

upper social/economic classes in our society teach their children the importance of

acquiring knowledge and skills that will enable them to enjoy the same benefits. They

are strong advocates of the prevailing system of authority and preach its merits and

belong to interest groups that promote the system.

16. The norms and mores are not commands in the sense that statutes and laws

coming from legislatures and judicial bodies are. They exercise the influence they do

because they are part of a cultural stream going far back into the history of a society;

they have tradition on their side, and they seem to people to be part of immemorial

belief. They owe their strength to the fact that they have become a deeply entrenched

feature of social life and organization, and that is one reason why they are so tenacious,

so enduring, and so difficult to change. Some of our norms and mores have their roots

in antiquity as the predominance in our society of the Judeo-Christian tradition, our

system of private property, our intense competitiveness, and our belief in the use of

military methods to resolve conflicts. Modern "political" democracy is quite young, seen

in terms of the history of civilizations, yet soon after the American revolution and

subsequent adoption of a Constitution, legend-building began.

17. All ceremonies are in practice different mixtures or combinations of traits. We may

say that this activity is predominantly ceremonial, and that predominantly technological,

but we are unable, in view of present knowledge, to assign a verifiable quantitative score

to them.

18. Some ceremonies are more functional, permissive, or less dysfunctional than

others. Thus, large numbers of children were once seen as functional both from the point

of view of individual families and society. Now, while having many children may be seen

as functional from the point of view of the family, they are coming to be seen as

dysfunctional from the point of view of society. Poverty has been growing in some parts of

the world in the 20th century, as in most of Africa, and in parts of Asia. Population is

growing in that part of the world faster than economic growth, and poverty become more

widespread. Furthermore, population imposes great strain on the environment, especially

where the environment is fragile.

Technology

 

1. Technology is a learned aspect of human behavior. It forms correlated patterns

based upon and deriving from a functional process. This functional process is an

instrumental or tool-using process. This means that the technological aspect of behavior

comes from tool-using activities. But technology is not merely tools. A common mistake is

to think of technology as tools, machines and the like. But technology is not external to

man ‑‑ it is internal, a part of human behavior. It is not like a coat that can be put on or

taken off depending on the temperature. No single person and no society has ever existed

that was devoid of this aspect or type of behavior.

2. Technology is part of the network of social and personal relationships and it permeates all

relationships. Tool existence implies the skills necessary for tool using. A fundamental

principle of Institutional economics is that tools and skills are inseparable. The

technological process is cumulative and progressive. It is a process of tool and skill

accumulation through elaboration and combination of existing tools. All inventions are

combinations of previous inventions or combinations of previously existing tools. Literally

thousands of previously existing inventions make up even the simplest tools in our

economy.

3. This is because inventions or tools include processes or ways of making things as

well as things themselves. The modern use of carpentry tools involves the arts of steel making

and fabricating, wood shaping, and these in turn involve the knowledge included in chemistry,

physics, biology and more. The point is that tool using is complex and interrelated activity. And,

these activities and processes grow and accumulate by combination. The more tools and

inventions and skills there are, the greater the number of combinations are possible and the

faster is the accumulation process. Even if a tool is broken, it can be replaced in much less

time than it took to create it in the first place for the simple reason that all the knowledge and

skill necessary to make it exists. It is a simple job of recreation.

4. Consider how long it took man to make the first hammer out of stone and wood, and

how long it took to make the first steel headed hammers. Now we manufacture hammers

at the rate of millions per year. If a hammer is broken it is a "simple and quick" matter to

replace it. But not too many years ago a broken hammer meant long delays in production

for the unfortunate workman whose hammer got broken. Why is this? What has changed?

Have people become naturally or inherently better at making hammers? Are babies now

born knowing how to make hammers? Obviously not.

5. Like all tool using and making activities hammer production is learned and

each new generation is born into an already existing stream of activities, knowledge

and skills. One reason that technology is thought of as tools is that tools and tool-

usings are "part" of this way of behaving. However, "tools" is a broad category. Tools

includes both the physical and mental devices, both concrete and abstract. Tools

include hammers, nails, screwdrivers, the multiplication tables, music scores,

computers, pencils, language, calendars, stirrups, economic theories, books, names,

logical systems, and microscopes. The entire heritage of activities which stems from

doing and thinking. Tool‑using is a physically productive and creative process that

underlies all the achievements of mankind. Even the most ceremonial activities

include tool usage. As obtrusive as technology is most of us take the technological

landscape for granted.

21

22

23

24

25

26