City folk: Survival strategies of tradition-bearing organizations

Tradition-bearing organizations are those organizations in which the explicit mission is the preservation and protection of a tradition that is purported to transcend the organization. These organizations institutionalize specific definitions of polyschematic traditions. Such organizations face unique obstacles when adapting to changes in their environment. Through an in-depth case study of one such organization, the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Illinois, USA, this paper examines the strategies available to tradition-bearing organizations in such circumstances. Tradition-bearing organizations may choose to abandon their mission of preserving tradition in order to survive. For those dedicated to retaining their tradition-bearing status, strategies available include embodied identification, in which the organization is equated with the tradition it bears, making whatever it does tradition. This allows a shift in authenticity claims, which in turn legitimates expansion and translation. With these strategies an organization may retain its tradition-bearing status and still adapt to its environment.