Founders of Institutions

In this chapter, I examine the second dimension of founding: the founding of institutions. My case study is the Année sociologique, sometimes simply referred to as “the Durkheim school.” ¹ We shall see that what is routinely called “founding” is actually a series of actions rather than a single one, and is a process dependent upon a range of material and social conditions. My intention is not to deny the reality of human creativity and of pioneering effort, but only to suggest that we learn to think about these qualities in a sociological way. By so doing, we can grasp the many-sided character of innovation. The chapter concludes with an attempt to explain why, aside from its legitimating function, the concept of founding has the enduring attraction it does, why, in other words, the idea of founding—both discursive and institutional—appears to be so rhetorically attractive.