The theme of the institution in the work of Castoriadis recalls the tensional relationship between instituted and instituting, in the perspective of what emerges as one of the peculiar characteristics of the Castoriadisian thought: insistence on the imaginary as a fulcrum for the search for individual and collective autonomy. The modern institutions, however, have pushed in an almost paroxysmal way their bureaucratic dimension, finding in the formula of the “rationalization” of the system the contradictory point of their own functioning. Starting from the reflections of Castoriadis, institutional socioanalysis has opened new and fruitful interpretative paths for working groups and implementation practices within organizations. From this perspective, we see the relevance of Castoriadis' reflections on the crisis of social and cultural systems, which inexorably spills over into the complex of institutions (formal and informal) of teaching, training and education.
