Organizational Theory
My organizational interests focus on people who attempt to construct organizations which can manage to coordinate complex and repeated activities, such as worship services, without becoming institutionalized or relying on taken for granted patterns of thought and behavior. I call these organizations resistant organizations. Organizational theories suggest that as an organization grows or persists over time, its activities and structures will gradually come to resemble those of the dominant organizations in the field. I argue that it is possible to resist institutionalization by intentionally utilizing specific structures, organizational processes and developing ideologies which guard against the establishment of taken for granted patterns and routines. In the course of identifying these specific strategies and mechanisms I work toward a theory of organizational resistance. The result is a more accurate understanding of the range of organizational possibilities.
My first empirical study in this vein combines insights from organizational studies and the sociology of religion in order to explain why some religious activities persevere and even prosper despite significant social forces compelling them to conform. This research is based on in-depth interviews and ethnographic data from organizations within the Emerging Church to examine how organizational structures, processes and ideologies might be configured to resist institutionalization and increase options for individual religious expression. In addition to providing evidence for a theory of resistant organizations, this research provides a better understanding of contemporary American Protestantism and religious activity in general.
The first paper published from this research appeared in Sociological Inquiry in January 2011. The paper deals specifically with the role of professionals in resistant organizations. The abstract is below:
Resisting Institutionalization: Religious Professionals in the Emerging Church
by Josh Packard
This article discusses how organizations can resist normative institutional pressures associated with the use of formally trained and credentialed professionals. This research draws on neoinstitutional theories of isomorphism and utilizes a framework of religious training developed by Finke and Dougherty (2002), which emphasizes both the social and religious capital gained during professionalization, to show that resistance to normative institutional pressures is possible. The data demonstrate that organizations which act to reformulate the role of religious professionals in a way which limits both the opportunities and ability of clergy to implement and maintain organizational routines and processes can successfully avoid normative institutional forces. This research draws on over 50 interviews and 100 hours of fieldwork with people in the Emerging Church, a religious movement that has arisen in the last 25 years as a response to increasing distrust of institutional authority. This study helps to close the gap between institutional studies of organizations and the sociology of religion by suggesting that some, currently overlooked, organizational activities can be more accurately understood as deliberate attempts to resist institutionalizing forces.
