Rituals and institutional maintenance: the case of the beating retreat ceremony

Abstract

The present study examines ritual-driven institutional maintenance, or the reproduction of social order, in a case where ritual attendance is not mandated, conformity to the recurring ritual enactment is not expected, and where the ritual assumes meaning only as it is performed in perfect coordination with an assumed rival. The study is based on the case of the Beating Retreat ritual conducted daily at the India–Pakistan border. Findings indicate that institutional maintenance rests on (a) distantiation, which serves to create physical and social distance between collectives as ritual participants gain a sense of self and the “other,” and (b) interpellation, which serves to reinforce institutional ideologies as ritual participants internalize and profess what is valued. I extend implications of present findings for social relations within work organizations.