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Showing papers on "Social theory published in 2005"


Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence and Undoing Gender by Judith Butler as mentioned in this paper is an extended study of moral philosophy that is grounded in a new sense of the human subject.
Abstract: What does it mean to lead a moral life?In her first extended study of moral philosophy, Judith Butler offers a provocative outline for a new ethical practice-one responsive to the need for critical autonomy and grounded in a new sense of the human subject.Butler takes as her starting point one's ability to answer the questions What have I done?and What ought I to do?She shows that these question can be answered only by asking a prior question, Who is this 'I' who is under an obligation to give an account of itself and to act in certain ways?Because I find that I cannot give an account of myself without accounting for the social conditions under which I emerge, ethical reflection requires a turn to social theory.In three powerfully crafted and lucidly written chapters, Butler demonstrates how difficult it is to give an account of oneself, and how this lack of self-transparency and narratibility is crucial to an ethical understanding of the human. In brilliant dialogue with Adorno, Levinas, Foucault, and other thinkers, she eloquently argues the limits, possibilities, and dangers of contemporary ethical thought.Butler offers a critique of the moral self, arguing that the transparent, rational, and continuous ethical subject is an impossible construct that seeks to deny the specificity of what it is to be human. We can know ourselves only incompletely, and only in relation to a broader social world that has always preceded us and already shaped us in ways we cannot grasp. If inevitably we are partially opaque to ourselves, how can giving an account of ourselves define the ethical act? And doesn't an ethical system that holds us impossibly accountable for full self-knowledge and self-consistency inflict a kind of psychic violence, leading to a culture of self-beratement and cruelty? How does the turn to social theory offer us a chance to understand the specifically social character of our own unknowingness about ourselves?In this invaluable book, by recasting ethics as a project in which being ethical means becoming critical of norms under which we are asked to act, but which we can never fully choose, Butler illuminates what it means for us as fallible creaturesto create and share an ethics of vulnerability, humility, and ethical responsiveness. Judtith Butler is the Maxine Elliot Professor of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. The most recent of her books are Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence and Undoing Gender.

2,547 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The huge corpus of work on consumption still lacks theoretical consolidation as mentioned in this paper, which is most obvious when contemplating the situations of different disciplines, where there is very little common ground (see, for example, the review in Miller 1995). But the problem is no less great in individual disciplines like sociology, where output seems to have been bipolar, generating either abstract and speculative social theory or detailed case studies.
Abstract: The huge corpus of work on consumption still lacks theoretical consolidation. This is most obvious when contemplating the situations of different disciplines, where there is very little common ground (see, for example, the review in Miller 1995). But the problem is no less great in individual disciplines like sociology, for example, where output seems to me to have been bipolar, generating either abstract and speculative social theory or detailed case studies. Moreover, case studies have been skewed towards favourite, but restricted, topics—fashion, advertising and some forms of popular recreational activity—with particular attention paid to their symbolic meanings and role in the formation of self-identity. These case studies, perhaps encouraged by prominent versions of the abstract theories which say that the consumer has no choice but to choose and will be judged in terms of the symbolic adequacy of that choice (e.g. Bauman 1988; Giddens 1991), very often operated with models of highly autonomous individuals preoccupied with symbolic communication. Believing that these approaches give a partial understanding of consumption, this chapter sketches an alternative, avoiding methodological individualist accounts of ‘the consumer’, which are concerned as much with what people do and feel as what they mean.

2,303 citations


Book
01 Aug 2005
TL;DR: Sewell as discussed by the authors argues that both history and the social sciences have something crucial to offer each other, and he reveals the shape such an engagement could take, some of the topics it could illuminate, and how it might affect both sides of the disciplinary divide.
Abstract: While social scientists and historians have been exchanging ideas for a long time, they have never developed a proper dialogue about social theory. William H. Sewell Jr. observes that on questions of theory the communication has been mostly one way: from social science to history. Logics of History argues that both history and the social sciences have something crucial to offer each other. While historians do not think of themeselves as theorists, they know something social scientists do not: how to think about the temporalities of social life. On the other hand, while social scientists' treatments of temporality are usually clumsy, their theoretical sophistication and penchant for structural accounts of social life could offer much to historians. Renowned for his work at the crossroads of history, sociology, political science, and anthropology, Sewell argues that only by combining a more sophisticated understanding of historical time with a concern for larger theoretical questions can a satisfying social theory emerge. In Logics of History, he reveals the shape such an engagement could take, some of the topics it could illuminate, and how it might affect both sides of the disciplinary divide.

1,082 citations


Book
10 Nov 2005
TL;DR: Hedstrom as mentioned in this paper argues for a systematic development of sociological theory so that it has the explanatory power and precision to inform sociological research and understanding, and shows how strong links can be forged between the micro and the macro, and between theory and empirical research.
Abstract: Over the past few decades serious reservations have been expressed about the explanatory power of sociological theory and research In this important book, leading social theorist Peter Hedstrom outlines the foundations of an analytically oriented sociology that seeks to address this criticism Building on his earlier influential contributions to contemporary debates, Professor Hedstrom argues for a systematic development of sociological theory so that it has the explanatory power and precision to inform sociological research and understanding He discusses various mechanisms of action and interaction and shows how strong links can be forged between the micro and the macro, and between theory and empirical research Combining approaches to theory and methodology and using extensive examples to illustrate how they might be applied, this clear, concise and original book will appeal to a broad range of social scientists

851 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper introduced a new form of social ontology called site ontology and sketched its bearings on the analysis of organizations, and the bearing of the latter ontology on the character, origin, and perpetuation of organizations was considered, using an academic department as an example.
Abstract: This essay introduces a new form of social ontology and sketches its bearings on the analysis of organizations. The essay begins by contrasting the two social ontological camps — individualism and societism — into which social theory has been divided since its inception. It then describes the new approach, called site ontology, according to which social life is tied to a context (site) of which it is inherently a part. Examples of such ontologies are presented, as is my own thesis that the site of social life is composed of a nexus of human practices and material arrangements. The bearing of the latter ontology on the character, origin, and perpetuation of organizations is then considered, using an academic department as an example. Contrasts are also drawn with various approaches in organizations theory, including rational organizations, neoinstitutionalism, systems theories, and selection theories. A final section considers the complex psychological structure of organizations, working off Karl Weick and...

770 citations


Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The Moral Significance of Class as discussed by the authors analyzes the moral aspects of people's experience of class inequalities and shows how people are valued in a context in which their life-chances and achievements are objectively affected by the lottery of birth class, and by forces which have little to do with their moral qualities or other merits.
Abstract: The Moral Significance of Class, first published in 2005, analyses the moral aspects of people's experience of class inequalities. Class affects not only our material wealth but our access to things, relationships, and practices which we have reason to value, including the esteem or respect of others and hence our sense of self-worth. It shapes the kind of people we become and our chances of living a fulfilling life. Yet contemporary culture is increasingly 'in denial' about class, finding it embarrassing to acknowledge, even though it can often be blatantly obvious. By drawing upon concepts from moral philosophy and social theory and applying them to empirical studies of class, this fascinating and accessible study shows how people are valued in a context in which their life-chances and achievements are objectively affected by the lottery of birth class, and by forces which have little to do with their moral qualities or other merits.

769 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a sustainability concept based on the concepts of needs and work, which is an activity to fulfil these needs and as the principal exchange process between society and nature.
Abstract: The sustainability concepts of the 'Brundtland-Report' and the 'Rio documents' call for a combination of ecological, economic, social and institutional aspects of social development. This paper describes briefly, several models of sustainability and discusses social sustainability as conceptualised in selected sustainability indicators. In an attempt to remedy the lack of sociological theory, the paper proposes a sustainability concept, which is based on the concepts of needs and work, as an activity to fulfil these needs and as the principal exchange process between society and nature. Moreover, this paper argues in favour of recognition of social sustainability as both a normative and analytical concept.

750 citations


BookDOI
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: McAdam et al. as mentioned in this paper created a common framework for organizations and social movements, and discussed how social movements penetrate organizations and how organizations respond to social change and how to resist subversion.
Abstract: Part I. Creating a Common Framework: 1. Organizations and movements Doug McAdam and W. Richard Scott 2. Where do we stand? Common mechanisms in organizations and social movements research John L. Campbell Part II. Political and Mobilization Context: 3. Institutional variation in the evolution of social movements: competing logics and the spread of recycling advocacy groups Michael Lounsbury 4. Elite mobilizations for antitakeover legislation, 1982-1990 Timothy Vogus and Gerald F. Davis 5. Institutionalization as a contested, multilevel process: the case of rate regulation in American fire insurance Marc Schneiberg and Sarah A. Soule 6. From struggle to settlement: the crystallization of a field of lesbian/gay organizations in San Francisco, 1969-1973 Elizabeth Armstrong Part III. Social Movement Organizations: Form and Structure: 7. Persistence and change among federated social movement organizations John McCarthy 8. Globalization and transnational social movement organizations Jackie Smith Part IV. Movements Penetrating Organizations: 9. How do social movements penetrate organizations? Environmental impact and organizational response Mayer N. Zald, Calvin Morrill, and Hayagreeva Rao 10. Organizational change as an orchestrated social movement: recruitment to a corporate quality initiative David Strang and Dong-Il Jung 11. Subventing our stories of subversion Maureen A. Scully and W. E. Douglas Creed Part V. Conclusion: 12. Social change, social theory, and the convergence of movements and organizations Gerald F. Davis and Mayer N. Zald 12. Two kinds of stuff: the current encounter of social movements and organizations Elizabeth Clemens.

617 citations


Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: Sawyer as mentioned in this paper argues that societies are complex dynamical systems, and that the best way to resolve these debates is by developing the concept of emergence, focusing on multiple levels of analysis - individuals, interactions, and groups - with a dynamic focus on how social group phenomena emerge from communication processes among individual members.
Abstract: Can we understand important social issues by studying individual personalities and decisions? Or are societies somehow more than the people in them? Sociologists have long believed that psychology can't explain what happens when people work together in complex modern societies. In contrast, most psychologists and economists believe that if we have an accurate theory of how individuals make choices and act on them, we can explain pretty much everything about social life. Social Emergence takes a new approach to these longstanding questions. Sawyer argues that societies are complex dynamical systems, and that the best way to resolve these debates is by developing the concept of emergence, focusing on multiple levels of analysis - individuals, interactions, and groups - and with a dynamic focus on how social group phenomena emerge from communication processes among individual members. This book makes a unique contribution not only to complex systems research but also to social theory.

604 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article challenges economists' attempts to reduce knowledge to information held by individuals and to reject tacit knowledge as mere uncodified explicit knowledge and attempts to limit the scope of community of practice analysis.
Abstract: Community of practice theory is inherently a social theory. As such it is distinct from more individualist accounts of human behavior, such as mainstream economics. Consequently, community of practice theory and economics favor different accounts of knowledge. Taking a community of practice perspective, this article challenges economists' attempts to reduce knowledge to information held by individuals and to reject tacit knowledge as mere uncodified explicit knowledge. The essay argues that Polanyi's notion of a tacit dimension affected numerous disciplines (including economics) because it addressed aspects of learning and identity that conventional social sciences overlooked. The article situates knowledge, identity, and learning within communities and points to ethical and epistemic entailments of community practice. In so doing it attempts to limit, rather than expand, the scope of community of practice analysis and to stress the difference, rather than the commonalities, between this and other apparen...

538 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A whole flurry of new thinking and research about young people in the USA has been stimulated by Jeffery Arnett's theory of "Emerging Adulthood" as discussed by the authors, which argues for recognition of a new stage of the life-course between adolescence and adulthood reflecting the extension of youth transitions to independence brought about by globalization and technological change.
Abstract: A whole flurry of new thinking and research about young people in the USA has been stimulated by Jeffery Arnett's theory of ‘Emerging Adulthood’. This argues for recognition of a new stage of the life-course between adolescence and adulthood reflecting the extension of youth transitions to independence brought about by globalization and technological change. Although the perspective aligns with developmental psychology's conception of ‘stages of development’, its appeal extends across the social science disciplines and policy domains. However, the rich theorizing of the same manifestations of social change in young people's experience in European Youth Studies appear to have been largely overlooked by Arnett. This paper attempts to redress this balance by drawing into the framework of Emerging Adulthood a wider set of theoretical concerns with structural factors and exclusion mechanisms to which (late) modern youth are subjected. The argument is exemplified by age-30 cohort comparisons across three Britis...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The three-process theory of power as mentioned in this paper argues that psychological group formation produces influence, that influence is the basis of power and that power leads to the control of resources, and that mutual influence leads to formation of a psychological group.
Abstract: Power is an inescapable feature of human social life and structure. This paper addresses the nature of power. The standard theory is that power is the capacity for influence and that influence is based on the control of resources valued or desired by others. However, there have always been problems with this theory and new ones have appeared. The paper summarizes the standard theory and its problems, outlines the different meanings of power and presents a new theory emphasizing group identity, social organization and ideology rather than dependence as the basis of power. It proposes that power is based on persuasion, authority and coercion. A key point is that the theory changes the way these processes have been understood by reversing the causal sequence of the standard theory. The latter argues that control of resources produces power, power is the basis of influence and that mutual influence leads to the formation of a psychological group. The three-process theory argues that psychological group formation produces influence, that influence is the basis of power and that power leads to the control of resources. Implications of the theory for social change, coercion, prejudice and the extent to which power is a social evil are briefly noted. The challenge is to study how power emerges from and functions within social relationships with a definite social, ideological and historical content rather than reifying it as an abstract external force producing generic psychological effects. Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Few would deny that power is central to human affairs or a key concept in the social sciences. Roberts (2003) argues that it is the basis of society: ‘The ability of one person to make a hundred others do his [sic] bidding is the basic building block upon which all collective human endeavour is based’ (p. xv). Keltner, Gruenfeld, and Anderson (2003) state that it is ‘a basic force in social relationships’ (p. 265). It appears to be a universal and indispensable feature of social organization, at work in all political, organizational and institutional life and, in some views, in every social relationship. Every group, organization or society must solve the problems of power to achieve its goals or risk failure, dysfunction or even extinction. But what exactly is power? How should it be defined, what are the processes through which it operates, what are their distinctive effects on attitudes and behaviour, and

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an introduction to social scripting theory, an exploration of the ways and potential reasons sexual scripts differ by gender, and a discussion of ways that a social scripting perspective can be applied to work with individuals and couples experiencing sexual problems.
Abstract: Social scripting theory points to the fact that much of sexual behavior seems to follow a script. Similar to scripts that stage actors use to guide their behavior, social scripts instruct members of a society as to appropriate behavior and the meanings to attach to certain behaviors. In Western cultures, scripts for sexual activity are markedly different for males and females. In this article, the goals are to provide (a) an introduction to social scripting theory, (b) an exploration of the ways and potential reasons sexual scripts differ by gender, and (c) a discussion of ways that a social scripting perspective can be applied to work with individuals and couples experiencing sexual problems.

Book
26 Jul 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, Delanty and Rumford argue that we need a theory of society in order to understand Europeanization and make the case that Europeanization should be theorized in terms of globalization.
Abstract: Dominant approaches to the transformation of Europe ignore contemporary social theory interpretations of the nature and dynamics of social change. Here, Delanty and Rumford argue that we need a theory of society in order to understand Europeanization. This book advances the case that Europeanization should be theorized in terms of: -Globalization. -Major social transformations that are not exclusively spear-headed by the EU. -The wider context of the transformation of modernity. This fascinating book broadens the terms of the debate on Europeanization, conventionally limited to the supersession of the nation-state by a supra-national authority and the changes within member states consequent upon EU membership. Demonstrating the relevance of social theory to contemporary issues and with a focus on European transformation rather than simplistic notions of Europe-building, this truly multidisciplinary volume will appeal to readers from a range of social science disciplines, including sociology, geography, political science and European studies.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper explored the ways in which sociological perspectives can develop new understanding of the social contexts of care and dependence, drawing on the work of Kittay and others, and found that sociologists have scrutinised the social construction of dependency; politicians have ascribed negative connotations of passivity ; and medical and social policy discourse employs the term in a positivist sense as a measure of physical need for professional intervention.
Abstract: Research and theory on ‘ dependency ’ and ‘ care-giving ’ have to date proceeded along largely separate lines, with little sense that they are exploring and explaining different aspects of the same phenomenon. Research on ‘care ’, initially linked to feminism during the early 1980s, has revealed and exposed to public gaze what was hitherto assumed to be a ‘ natural ’ female activity. Conversely, disability activists and writers who have promoted a social model of disability have seen the language of and the policy focus upon ‘care ’ as oppressive and objectifying. ‘ Dependency ’ is an equally contested concept: sociologists have scrutinised the social construction of dependency; politicians have ascribed negative connotations of passivity ; while medical and social policy discourse employs the term in a positivist sense as a measure of physical need for professional intervention. Autonomy and independence, in contrast, are promoted as universal and largely unproblematic goals. These contrasting perspectives have led social theory, research and policies to separate and segregate the worlds of ‘ carers ’ from those for whom they ‘care ’. Drawing on the work of Kittay and others, this paper explores the ways in which sociological perspectives can develop new understanding of the social contexts of ‘ care ’ and ‘ dependence ’.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a conceptualization of social materiality is developed whereby social processes and structures and material process and structures are seen as mutually enacting, and the relevance of "materiality" to understanding changing modes of control in organizational life is explored.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to explore the relevance of ‘materiality’ to understanding changing modes of control in organizational life. In doing this, materiality is not placed in a dualistic relationship with social relations. Rather a conceptualization of ‘social materiality’ is developed whereby social processes and structures and material processes and structures are seen as mutually enacting. In developing this concept of social materiality, I have drawn upon insights from three areas of social theory. These are studies of material culture, Lefebvre’s work on the ‘social production of space’, and sociological and phenomenological approaches to embodiment. The final section of the article explores how control and materiality are linked through spatial politics in one organizational case.

Book
25 Aug 2005
TL;DR: A clear and readable overview of Jurgen Habermas's philosophical work can be found in this article, where the author explores the theoretical underpinnings of the social theory and its more concrete applications in the fields of ethics, politics, and law.
Abstract: Jurgen Habermas is the most renowned living German philosopher. This book aims to give a clear and readable overview of his philosophical work. It analyzes both the theoretical underpinnings of Habermas's social theory, and its more concrete applications in the fields of ethics, politics, and law. Finally, it examines how Habermas's social and political theory informs his writing on real, current political and social problems. The author explores Habermas's influence on a wide variety of fields--including philosophy, political and social theory, cultural studies, sociology, and literary studies. He uses a problem-based approach to explain how Habermas's ideas can be applied to actual social and political situations. The book also includes a glossary of technical terms to further acquaint the reader with Habermas's philosophy. Unlike other writing on Habermas, this Introduction is accessibly written and explains his intellectual framework and technical vocabulary, rather than simply adopting it.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that rational choice has much to contribute here as well, by drawing on work on European identity and by noting that students of European socialization have much to gain by bringing the domestic back in.
Abstract: Building on the empirical findings of the preceding articles, we advance three arguments. First, while socialization research has typically been construed as constructivism's home turf, this volume's emphasis on mechanisms and scope conditions reveals that rational choice has much to contribute here as well. We develop this claim by undertaking a “double interpretation” of each essay, which allows us to advance more fine-grained arguments connecting the two social theories. Second, while there are good conceptual reasons for expecting a predominance of international socialization in Europe, the empirical cases instead suggest that its effects are often weak and secondary to dynamics at the national level. We make sense of this puzzle by reasoning more explicitly in longitudinal terms, by drawing on work on European identity, and by noting that students of European socialization—as well as integration—have much to gain by “bringing the domestic back in.” Finally, while our collaborators have demonstrated the empirical and theoretical benefits of combining a social ontology with a positivist epistemology, this comes at a cost, with normative perspectives neglected. This matters—and all the more so in a Europe marked by supranational constitution- and polity building. Socialization dynamics may well take us beyond the nation-state, but their legitimacy and governance implications bring us back—forcefully—to it.We are grateful to the project participants and contributors to this volume for valuable discussions on the themes addressed here. For detailed comments on earlier versions of this essay, we thank two anonymous reviewers, the IO editors, Peter Katzenstein, and Ron Mitchell.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use landscape histories for the Peloponnese and eastern Spain to show that the impact of recurrent, excessive precipitation events and of reduced quality of land cover are difficult to unravel, because they commonly appear to work in tandem.

Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The "Encyclopedia of Social Theory" as mentioned in this paper is an indispensable reference source for anyone interested in understanding the roots of contemporary social theory, including structural fundamentalism, critical theory, Phenomenology, Ethnomethodology, Exchange theory, Rational choice, Feminism, Multiculturalism and Postmodernism.
Abstract: "The Encyclopedia of Social Theory", two-volume set, is an indispensable reference source for anyone interested in understanding the roots of contemporary social theory. It examines the global landscape of all the key theories and the theorists behind them and presents them in the context needed to understand the strengths and weaknesses of all the key areas of the discipline.These include: Structural fundamentalism; Marxist theory; Critical theory; Phenomenology; Ethnomethodology; Exchange theory; Rational choice; Feminism; Multiculturalism; and Postmodernism. "The Encyclopedia of Social Theory" draws together a team of international scholars led by the editor, George Ritzer, one of the most prolific social theorists. This is a benchmark reference tool for understanding the development, achievements and prospects of social theory. Key features and benefits include: over 280 entries; a master bibliography; a complete Reader's Guide; extensive biographical coverage of the major theorists; and extensive cross-referencing.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that phenotypes for toning down positive affect, in the face of loss of control, may become more severe in the context of socially hostile, unsupportive and/or excessively competitive environments.
Abstract: Depression is well recognized to be rooted in the down-regulation of positive affect systems. This paper reviews some of the social and non-social theories that seek to explain the potential adaptive advantages of being able to tone down positive affect, and how dysfunctions in such affect control can occur in some contexts. Common to most evolutionary theories of depression is the view that loss of control over aversive events and/or major resources/rewards exert downward pressure on positive affect. Social theories, however, suggest that it is loss of control over the social environment that is particularly depressogenic. Two evolutionary theories (the attachment-loss, and the defeat-loss theories) are briefly reviewed and their interaction considered. It is suggested that phenotypes for toning down positive affect, in the face of loss of control, may become more severe in the context of socially hostile, unsupportive and/or excessively competitive environments. The paper briefly considers how human competencies for self-evaluation in relation to others, rumination, self-criticism, and modern social contexts can accentuate dysfunctional expressions of affect regulation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline and analyse contemporary conceptualisations of wellbeing and suggest that ideas of wellbeing capture and reproduce important social norms and that the increasing popularity of the ideal of wellbeing appears to reflect shifts in perceptions and experiences of individual agency and responsibility.
Abstract: Wellbeing is a quality in demand in today's society. Wellbeing is virtue that is much desired, much promoted, and much debated. Yet, as an ideal, wellbeing is not a concept set in stone. Rather, conceptualisations and experiences of wellbeing are produced in and through wider social perceptions and practices. This article outlines and analyses contemporary conceptualisations of wellbeing and suggests that ideas of wellbeing capture and reproduce important social norms. Indeed, the increasing popularity of the ideal of wellbeing appears to reflect shifts in perceptions and experiences of individual agency and responsibility. In particular, dominant discourses of wellbeing relate to changes in subjectivity; they manifest a move from subjects as citizens to subjects as consumers. In a consumer society, wellbeing emerges as a normative obligation chosen and sought after by individual agents. This article is informed by social theories of subjectivity and critical analyses of selected newspaper reports from 1985 to 2003.

BookDOI
11 Jan 2005
Abstract: Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Social Theory, Modernity and the Three Waves of Historical Sociology / Julia Adams, Elisabeth S. Clemens, and Ann Shola Orloff 1 Part I: Historical Sociology and Epistemological Underpinnings The Action Turn? Comparative-Historical Inquiry beyond the Classical Models of Conduct / Richard Biernacki 75 Overlapping Territories and Intertwined Histories: Historical Sociology's Global Imagination / Zine Magubene 92 The Epistemological Unconscious of U.S. Sociology and the Transition to Post-Fordism: The Case of Historical Sociology / George Steinmetz 109 Part II: State Formation and Historical Sociology The Return of the Repressed: Religion and the Political Unconscious of Historical Sociology / Philip S. Gorski 161 Social Provision and Regulation: Theories of States, Social Policies, and Modernity / Ann Shola Orloff 190 The Bureaucratization of States: Toward an Analytical Weberianism / Edgar Kiser and Justin Baer 225 Part III: History and Political Contention Mars Revealed: The Entry of Ordinary People into War among the States / Meyer Kestnbaum 249 Historical Sociology and Collective Action / Roger V. Gould 286 Revolutions as Pathways to Modernity / Nader Sohrabi 300 Part IV: Capitalism, Modernity, and the Economic Realm Historical Sociology and the Economy: Actors, Networks, and Context / Bruce G. Carruthers 333 The Great Debates: Transitions to Capitalisms / Rebecca Jean Emigh 355 The Professions: Prodigal Daughters of Modernity / Ming-Cheng M. Lo 381 Part V: Politics, History, and Collective Identities Nations / Lyn Spillman and Russell Faeges 409 Citizenship Troubles: Genealogies of Struggle for the Soul of the Social / Margaret R. Somers 438 Ethnicity without Groups / Rogers Brubake 470 Afterword: Logics of History? Agency, Multiplicity, and Incoherence in the Explanation of Change / Elisabeth S. Clemens 493 References 517 Contributors 599 Index 603

Journal ArticleDOI
Ian Greener1
01 Feb 2005-Politics
TL;DR: The authors explored the difficulties with both the theoretical content and application of the concept of path dependence in political studies, but suggests that, by combining it with insights from morphogenetic social theory, they can provide a coherent framework for its use.
Abstract: This article explores the difficulties with both the theoretical content and application of the concept of ‘path dependence’ in political studies, but suggests that, by combining it with insights from morphogenetic social theory, we can provide a coherent framework for its use. After providing a brief survey of the literature on path dependence, it presents a summary of the most significant criticisms made of the approach. The article then moves on to examine morphogenetic social theory and its potential to meet these criticisms before concluding by characterising the elements of a path-dependent system incorporating insights from both new institutionalism and morphogenetic social theory.

Book
01 Jan 2005
TL;DR: The Politics of Space: Social Movements and Public Space as discussed by the authors is a collection of essays about social relations in the city, focusing on gender, sexuality, and the city.
Abstract: Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Community and Solitude: Social Relations in the City. 2. Spaces of Difference and Division. 3. The Politics of Space: Social Movements and Public Space. 4. Capital and Culture: Gentrifying the City. 5. Embodied Spaces: Gender, Sexuality and the City. 6. Spatial Stories: Subjectivity in the City. 7. Making Space: Urban Cultures, Spatial Tactics. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

Book
31 Oct 2005
TL;DR: In the early 1950s, the sociologist Harold Garfinkel's earliest attempt, while at Harvard in 1948, to bridge the growing gap in American sociology was published.
Abstract: This book-never before published-is eminent sociologist Harold Garfinkel's earliest attempt, while at Harvard in 1948, to bridge the growing gap in American sociology. This gap was generated by a Parsonian paradigm that emphasised a scientific approach to sociological description, one that increasingly distanced itself from social phenomena in the increasingly influential ways studied by phenomenologists. It was Garfinkel's idea that phenomenological description, rendered in more empirical and interactive terms, might remedy shortcomings in the reigning Parsonian view. Garfinkel soon gave up the attempt to repair scientific description, and his focus became increasingly empirical until, in 1954, he famously coined the term "Ethnomethodology." However, in this early manuscript can be seen more clearly than in some of his later work the struggle with a conceptual and positivist rendering of social relations that ultimately informed Garfinkel's position. Here we find the sources of his turn toward ethnomethodology, which would influence subsequent generations of sociologists. Essential reading for all social theory scholars and graduate students and for a wider range of social scientists in anthropology, ethnomethodology, and other fields.

Book
18 Nov 2005
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a philosophy of the social sciences based on the early Frankfurt School, with an emphasis on realism, reality, and causality, which they call Critical Theory.
Abstract: Acknowledgements. Introduction. Chapter 1. Emile Durkheim's naturalism. Introduction. An uneasy relationship with positivism. How to be a proper sociologist. Application: the study of suicide. Evaluation. Further reading. Bibliography. Chapter 2. Max Weber's interpretative method. Introduction. Transcending the Methodenstreit. Ideal types and different types of action. Application: the Protestant Ethic. Evaluation. Further reading. Bibliography. Chapter 3. Karl Popper's falsificationism. Introduction. What science is about. The controversy with Kuhn. How to make social science scientific. The problem with historicism and utopianism. Methodological individualism. Evaluation. Further reading. Bibliography. Chapter 4. Critical realism. The realist bandwagon. Realism, reality and causality. Creative scientists at work. Contributions to social theory. Application: British politics. Evaluation. Further reading. Bibliography. Chapter 5. Critical Theory. Introduction. The Early Frankfurt School. Jurgen Habermas. Further reading. Bibliography. Chapter 6. Richard Rorty and Pragmatism. Introduction. American pragmatism and Rorty. The myth of scientific method. The new left and the cultural left. Evaluation. Further reading. Bibliography. Chapter 7. A Pragmatist philosophy of the social sciences. Outline of a pragmatist view. Cultural anthropology. Archaeology. History and social sciences. Some concluding remarks. Notes. References and Bibliography. Index

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors analyzed the cultural distinction of public/private as crucial to capitalism as to liberal politics, as significant in everyday life as in social theory, and analyzed it as a language ideology of differentiation to distinguish between contrasting icons of linguistic genres, places, persons and moralities.
Abstract: The cultural distinction of public/private is as crucial to capitalism as to liberal politics, as significant in everyday life as in social theory. Analyzing it as a language ideology of differentiation clarifies how it creates separations between contrasting icons of linguistic genres, places, persons, and moralities. Ethnographic and textual materials from the United States are juxtaposed with evidence from Eastern European state socialism, providing a general method for comparing language ideologies. Semiotic properties of fractal recursion and erasure are evident in both cases, yet with telling differences in the metaphors through which the distinction is abstracted from interaction, anchored, and further extended.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined Schumpeter's early writings on the entrepreneur and focused on the apparent contradiction between his understanding of the inhibitory effect of social control and the entrepreneur's strength of will.
Abstract: Joseph Schumpeter's work has long been regarded as a seminal contribution to entrepreneurship theory. However, relatively little attention has been given to exploring the sociological implications of his insights. This article examines Schumpeter's early writings on the entrepreneur and focuses on the apparent contradiction between his understanding of the inhibitory effect of social control and the entrepreneur's strength of will. This tension is resolved by recourse to contemporary social theory of interaction and emotion. A synthesis of these works produces two hypothetical modes of entrepreneurial action. These are elaborated and their implications for the understanding of entrepreneurship discussed.

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TL;DR: Advances in contemporary social theory that are founded on a critique of modernity and that articulate a coherent theory of practice should be considered when addressing these critical challenges of programming and evaluation.
Abstract: The innovative practice that resulted from the Ottawa Charter challenges public health knowledge about programming and evaluation. Specifically, there is a need to formulate program theory that embraces social determinants of health and local actors' mobilization for social change. Likewise, it is imperative to develop a theory of evaluation that fosters reflexive understanding of public health programs engaged in social change. We believe advances in contemporary social theory that are founded on a critique of modernity and that articulate a coherent theory of practice should be considered when addressing these critical challenges.