Institutions fabricate and appropriate symbolic traditions to boost internal cohesion.

Evidence

The fact that an image or style is founded on fictional references or that mythical characters are mixed in with real ones is immaterial. Appropriating (and manipulating) a worthy tradition of some sort is a common practice which all institutions undertake to raise their status in the eyes of their members and strengthen internal cohesion. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 342

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Hobsbawm’s ‘invented traditions’ and to how the mafia itself fabricates legitimacy — parallels the reader’s framework of reputation-as-signaling. — connects to: Long-standing village institutions function as dynamic hybrids of modern and traditional elements. — Emil Sandström and Ann-Kristin Ekman and Karl-Johan Lindholm, Commoning in the periphery – The role…, 60; Recovering local history through research and museums strengthens village identity and cohesion. — Emil Sandström and Ann-Kristin Ekman and Karl-Johan Lindholm, Commoning in the periphery – The role…, 57; Institutions persist by making analogies that make their practices appear natural. — Emil Sandström and Ann-Kristin Ekman and Karl-Johan Lindholm, Commoning in the periphery – The role…, 70