Abstract
We theorize the problems of social order that are created by nested-group structures. Almost universally, people interact in local groups that are nested in larger more removed or distant groups. These structures often generate fragmented, balkanized social orders in part because people tend to develop stronger ties and commitments to local (proximal) groups where they interact with others. A key reason is that positive emotions from those local interactions tend to be associated with or attributed to local, immediate groups, which leads to stronger affective ties to and cohesion in the local group often at the expense of ties to the larger group. This paper elaborates and extends select micro-sociological theories that identify foundations of these problems of social order and indicate how larger, more removed social units (communities, corporations, nations) may mitigate problems of fragmentation and balkanization by promoting mutually-supportive or stronger affective ties to the larger, distal group. In the process, we show how properties of social interactions create the nested-group problem, but also contain “seeds” of stable, resilient social orders across micro and macro levels.
Authorship is alphabetical. This paper is based on a program of research that was supported by five grants from the National Science Foundation.
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Notes
- 1.
Important to note is that emotions from confirming expectations at the micro level have a moral component to the degree that, not only is the micro level tightly connected to or embedded in meso (organizational) level organizations, but the meso level units also are tightly embedded in macro level institutions and culture.
- 2.
This defines the scope of the nested group context as one in which the membership and activities of proximal and distal group are structurally interconnected. Core activities might be teaching in an educational organization, production in a factory, customer service in a retail organization; these locally enacted activities reflect the organization’s larger mission, charter, goals, or strategies. Group memberships are also interconnected because to be a member of the local group is by definition also to be a member of the more encompassing or distal group. It is not possible to join the local group without joining the larger group.
- 3.
As an example, this might occur where local units are not well-defined or fluid, those who work together are spread out geographically, and/or people participate simultaneously in several different work groups, teams, or projects.
- 4.
Some separation of group and personal identity remains except in extreme cases where the group and personal identities are so intertwined as to be inseparable (e.g., in cult memberships). The self-defining link between person and group is variable.
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Lawler, E.J., Thye, S.R., Yoon, J. (2016). The Problem of Social Order in Nested Group Structures. In: Abrutyn, S. (eds) Handbook of Contemporary Sociological Theory. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32250-6_8
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