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Seeing institutions in different ways
To help you to understand the complexity of institutional development, this free course, Seeing institutions in different ways, will present institutions in three key ways: as rules and norms, as meanings and values and as big players. The rules govern social life and the norms establish how people should behave, while institutional development is about changing the rules. Meanings help people make sense of their lives and values indicate what is good or bad, while institutional development brings in new values. The big players are individuals and organisations with the power to shape social life, while institutional development struggles over what social life should be like.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- understand different ways of thinking about institutions and institutional development
- appreciate that institutions in processes of development create pictures of institutional landscapes
- understand some of the factors that can promote or hinder institutional development
- locate yourself in the institutions significant for life and work.
First Published: 20/08/2014
Updated: 22/08/2017
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