The Use of the Concept of `Strategy' in Recent Sociological Literature

TLDR: A notable feature of recent sociological writing is the growing frequency with which actions are interpreted as forming part of a strategy, and sociologists' usage of the concept of ''strategy'' is now sufficiently common to warrant its investigation, especially since important and difficult issues are raised when it is adopted as discussed by the authors.

Abstract: One notable feature of recent sociological writing is the growing frequency with which actions are interpreted as forming part of a strategy. All sorts of social actors, from lowly individuals, through households, family businesses, social movements and classes, to mighty multi-national corporations and nation-states, have been represented as employing strategies, and sociologists' usage of the concept of `strategy' is now sufficiently common to warrant its investigation, especially since important and difficult issues are raised when it is adopted. Academic fashion may play a part in explaining the current prominence within the sociological vocabulary of the concept of `strategy', but greater significance should be attached to underlying trends in sociological theorising, even if these are not appreciated in every case where `strategy' is found being employed. Analysis of actions and their outcomes in terms of strategies carries with it the promise of avoiding some of the pitfalls of the classic agency/s...