This is the foundational text for the entire DEVICES curriculum. Berger and Luckmann's *The Social Construction of Reality* (1966) is one of the most influential works in sociology, and it provides the conceptual bedrock for understanding how devices operate.
The central argument is deceptively simple: reality is socially constructed. What we experience as the solid, objective world is actually a product of human activity. This doesn't mean that reality is "just in our heads" or that we can simply wish it away. It means that the world we inhabit is a world of shared meanings, habits, and institutions that have been built up over generations.
For the DEVICES framework, this is the essential starting point. Devices are not just tools for interacting with a pre-existing reality. They are instruments for constructing reality itself. The smartphone in your pocket, the language you speak, the rituals you performâthese are all devices that shape what is real for you.
Learning Objectives
- Understand how reality is socially constructed through shared meanings
- Learn how institutions emerge from habitualized actions
- Connect the concept of objectivation to the DEVICES framework
Key Concepts
The Social Construction of Reality
Berger and Luckmann argue that reality is not simply "out there," waiting to be discovered. It is actively constructed through human interaction. The world we experience as solid and objective is actually a product of shared meanings, habits, and institutions that have been built up over time. This is the foundational insight for the DEVICES framework: the devices we use are not just tools for interacting with a pre-existing reality; they are instruments for constructing reality itself.
Institutionalization
Institutions are not just formal organizations like governments or corporations. For Berger and Luckmann, an institution is any pattern of action that has become habitualized and objectified. When a way of doing things becomes "the way things are done," it has become an institution. This is how devices become embedded in social lifeâthey are not just adopted by individuals, but become institutionalized as the normal, expected way of doing things.
Objectivation
This is the process by which the products of human activity come to be experienced as things that exist independently of the humans who created them. Language, social roles, and institutions are all examples of objectivations. They are human creations, but they confront us as external, objective facts. This is a key mechanism for understanding how devices work: they are human creations that come to be experienced as natural and inevitable parts of the world.
Assignment
Read the introduction and first chapter of *The Social Construction of Reality*. Focus on the concepts of institutionalization and objectivation. As you read, consider: How do these concepts help explain the way that devices become embedded in our lives?
Read: The Social Construction of Reality (Internet Archive) Knowledge Check
Reflect on the key topics in this lesson.
1
What do Berger and Luckmann mean by "the social construction of reality"?
Hint: Think about how shared meanings and institutions create the world we experience as real.
2
What is "institutionalization," and how does it relate to devices?
Hint: Consider how habitualized actions become "the way things are done."
3
What is "objectivation," and why is it important for understanding devices?
Hint: Think about how human creations come to be experienced as external, objective facts.
Additional Resources
Supplementary materials for deeper exploration.
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
A classic work on how we construct our identities through social performance.
Symbolic Interactionism
The theoretical tradition that underlies Berger and Luckmann's work.