What Are Conventions and What Are They For? Social, Cultural, and Institutional Functions of Human Agreements
What Are Conventions and What Are They For? Social, Cultural, and Institutional Functions of Human Agreements Introduction: Why Talking About Conventions Matters Human societies are not sustained solely by written laws or by the direct coercion of political power. A large part of everyday social life—from how we greet one another to how we interpret a legal document or participate in a public ceremony—is organized through conventions : shared agreements, often implicit, that establish common expectations about behaviors, meanings, and procedures. Understanding what conventions are and what they are for means engaging with a fundamental dimension of social order that often goes unnoticed precisely because it functions effectively: when conventions work, they remain invisible; when they fail, conflict emerges. This article approaches conventions from a social sciences perspective, integrating sociological, historical, legal, and cultural frameworks. It does not limit itself to o...