Institutions and institutional

We argue that the processes underlying institutionalization have not been investi-gated adequately and that discourse analysis provides a coherent framework for such investigation. Accordingly, we develop a discursive model of institutionalization that highlights the relationships among texts, discourse, institutions, and action. Based on this discursive model, we propose a set of conditions under which institutionalization processes are most likely to occur, and we conclude the article with an exploration of the model’s implications for other areas of research. In this article we use discourse analysis to examine the process of institutionalization. We argue that language is fundamental to institu-tionalization: institutionalization occurs as actors interact and come to accept shared defi-nitions of reality, and it is through linguistic processes that definitions of reality are consti-tuted (Berger & Luckmann, 1966). Despite this