The Instituted Imaginary

In Castoriadis, the crystallised, stabilised dimension of the social imaginary — the significations and institutions a society has posited and now treats as natural, necessary or given. It supplies continuity and order but tends toward closure (what Castoriadis calls heteronomy) when its instituted character is forgotten. Buildings, monuments and city plans are among its most enduring carriers, fixing meanings in stone long after their instituting moment.