Practicesremain

Practicesremain is a term used in sociology, anthropology, and organizational studies to describe the persistence of social practices, norms, and rituals after changes in formal structures such as laws, institutions, or technologies. It flags the fact that practical action and everyday behavior can outlive the official rules that govern them, creating continuity across periods of reform or upheaval. The word is a compound of practice and remain, and is typically treated as a descriptive label rather than a specific theory.

Usage and scope: The concept covers a range of phenomena, including habitual routines in workplaces, standard procedures in bureaucracies, ritual practices within communities, and professional norms that persist after policy shifts. It is used to explain why observed behavior at the ground level does not always align with new regulations or organizational changes.

Mechanisms: Persistence arises from path dependence, institutional inertia, socialization processes, material infrastructures, and networks that transmit norms. Cultural meanings attached to practices can sustain them as they acquire legitimacy and become taken for granted.

Contexts and examples: In educational settings, grading rituals or classroom routines may continue despite new assessment policies. In healthcare, patient interaction norms can endure after reforms in healthcare delivery. In manufacturing, shop-floor routines may outlast changes in management.

Criticism and status: Some scholars warn that the term is broad and can obscure underlying causes. Others see it as a useful heuristic for tracing continuity during change. The concept remains less standardized than established terms such as habitus or path dependence, and its operationalization varies by field.