John W. Meyer
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2010) |
John Wilfred Meyer (born 1935) is a
Education and career
Meyer received his B.A. in Psychology from
Research
Most mainstream sociological perspectives are realist in orientation, building explanations around concrete actors and particular interests. By contrast, the Meyerian perspective is phenomenologically oriented. It stresses the dependence of local social organization on institutionalized models and definitions, promulgated by professionals and associations to promote collective goods. The dependence involved is more than causal influence. In the Meyerian view, institutional environments constitute local structures – establishing and defining their core entities, purposes, and interrelationships. Enacted models thus are often decoupled from local circumstances.[4]
Meyer initially developed the general perspective in the context of schooling. Departing from conventional views, Meyer envisioned schools as embodiments of collective myth and ceremonial administration, deeply bound to Modern narratives of progress and justice. His framework, developed with Francisco O. Ramirez and others, reveals the profound extent to which local school arrangements depend on broader social institutions to supply their form and function.
He next applied his ideas to the field of organizations. He helped pioneer the sociological new institutionalism,[5] stressing the role of loose coupling in organizational behavior and the conditions under which the diffusion of practices takes place (e.g. Organizational Environments, with W. Richard Scott, Sage 1983). A primary contention is that formal organizations incorporate institutionalized practices and procedures in order to maintain legitimacy. Organizations that align with the myths supplied by their institutional environments increase their survival prospects, even when doing so costs them internal coherence.
The third area in which Meyer's work has had broad influence, and the area in which his ideas may finally have their most durable impact, is in the analysis of world society. In 1980, he coined the term "
Over the course of his career, Meyer has authored or co-authored more than 200 scholarly articles and books.[9] In 2009, Georg Krücken and Gili S. Drori edited a retrospective of Meyer's work entitled World Society: The Writings of John W. Meyer. Currently, he is studying the impact of the human rights regime worldwide, and the impact of global society on national states and societies.
Selected publications
- 1977. "The Effects of Education as an Institution." American Journal of Sociology 83: 55–77.
- 1977. "Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony" (with Brian Rowan). American Journal of Sociology 83: 340–63.
- 1980. "The World Polity and the Authority of the Nation-State." In A. Bergesen (ed.), Studies of the Modern World-System. Academic Press: 109–37.
- 1984. "The Expansion of the State" (with George M. Thomas). Annual Review of Sociology 10: 461–82.
- 1985. "Explaining the Origins and Expansion of Mass Education" (with John Boli and Francisco O. Ramirez). Comparative Education Review 29: 145–68.
- 1992. "World Expansion of Mass Education, 1870-1970" (with Francisco O. Ramirez and Yasemin N. Soysal). Sociology of Education 65: 128–49.
- 1993. "Institutional Conditions for Diffusion" (with David Strang). Theory and Society 22: 487–511.
- 1997. "World Society and the Nation-State" (with John Boli, George M. Thomas, and Francisco O. Ramirez). American Journal of Sociology 103: 144–81.
- 2000. "The 'Actors' of Modern Society: The Cultural Construction of Social Agency" (with Ronald Jepperson). Sociological Theory 18: 100–20.
- 2002. "The Profusion of Individual Roles and Identities in the Post-War Period” (with David John Frank). Sociological Theory 20: 86-105.
- 2003. Science in the Modern World Polity: Institutionalization and Globalization (with Gili S. Drori, Francisco O. Ramirez, and Evan Schofer). Stanford University Press.
- 2006. Globalization and Organizations (with Gili S. Drori and Hokyu Hwang). Oxford University Press.
- 2006. "Scientization: Making a World Safe for Organizing" (with Gili S. Drori). In M.-L. Djelic and K. Sahlin-Andersson (eds.), Transnational Governance: Institutional Dynamics of Regulation. Cambridge University Press.
- 2006. "Student Achievement and National Economic Growth" (with Francisco O. Ramirez, Xiaowei Luo, and Evan Schofer). American Journal of Education vol. 113.
- 2007. “University Expansion and the Knowledge Society” (with David John Frank). Theory and Society 36: 287–311.
- 2009. World Society: The Writings of John W. Meyer (edited by Georg Krücken and Gili S. Drori). Oxford University Press.
- 2010. "World Society, Institutional Theories, and the Actor." Annual Review of Sociology 36: 1-20.
Awards and recognition
Meyer has won numerous awards based on his research and service. They include:
- W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award from the American Sociological Association, 2015[10][11]
- Election to the National Academy of Education
- Distinguished Career Award from the Global and Transnational Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association 2011
- Honorary Doctorate of Sociology from the University of Lucerne 2007[12]
- Honorary Doctorate of Sociology from the University of Bielefeld 2006[13]
- Graduate Service Recognition Award, GSPB, Stanford University 2001
- Honorary Doctorate of Economics from Stockholm School of Economics 1996
- Waller Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Sociology of Education from the American Sociological Association's Sociology of Education Section 1995
References
- ^ Stanford University (2016) 'John Meyer | Department of Sociology'. https://sociology.stanford.edu/people/john-meyer
- ^ Stanford University (2009) FSI | CDDRL - CDDRL faculty team receives grant to study globalization, citizenship, and education.
- S2CID 235372380. Archived from the original on 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2021-10-03.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link - ^ Stanford University (2016) 'FSI - John Meyer'. http://fsi.stanford.edu/people/John_Meyer
- ^ 1977. "Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony" (with Brian Rowan). American Journal of Sociology 83: 340-63
- ^ 1980. "The World Polity and the Authority of the Nation-State." In A. Bergesen (ed.), Studies of the Modern World-System. Academic Press: 109-37.
- ^ 1997. "World Society and the Nation-State" (with John Boli, George M. Thomas, and Francisco O. Ramirez). American Journal of Sociology 103: 144-81.
- ^ Stanford University (2016) 'John W. Meyer'. https://explorecourses.stanford.edu/instructor/meyer
- ^ Stanford Comparative Sociology Workshop (2003) 'papers'. https://web.stanford.edu/group/csw/papers.html Archived 2017-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "American Sociological Association: W.E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award". Archived from the original on 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
- ^ Stanford University (2015) 'John W. Meyer Receives the 2015 W.E.B. DuBois Career of Distinguished Scholarship Award | Department of Sociology'. https://sociology.stanford.edu/news/john-w-meyer-receives-2015-web-dubois-career-distinguished-scholarship-award
- ^ "Honorary Doctorates - University of Lucerne". www.unilu.ch. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
- S2CID 141513787.