5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

The concept of formal organization has been a subject of intense debate in organizational sociology. Once a designated term for “organization” as the purposeful social arrangement of concerted action, it has long been considered either the outer or overt aspects of organization—the criteria, rules, and contractual relations that formally define the organization, beneath which the “real” and vibrant organization plays out—or treated with the skepticism that has shadowed the concept of bureaucracy; the latter being equated with those aspects of organization that mediate social relations in an authoritarian or mechanistic manner. In the context of these negative representations, public and private organizations have been keen on downplaying formal elements such as organization charts, ownership structures, and control functions in favor of deregulation, delayering, and informality.

However, efforts to discard formalization may have reached their limits. Faced with polycrises—pandemics, climate change, war, corporate scandals—governments are no longer convinced that formal organization can be dispensed with without adverse effects. The absence of formal boundaries in the gig economy is adding to the concern. How can increasingly complex and distributed activities be coordinated? How can opportunity and responsibility be balanced? This session invites papers exploring the role of formal organization for facing a range of challenges: societal, organizational, and individual. We welcome both empirical cases and theoretical studies, addressing issues pertinent to public, private, or civil organizations. Contributions can focus on the types, processes, or consequences of formal organization, as well as the effects of a lack of formalization.