Artiklen introducerer de nyeste internationale forsøg på at syntetisere teoretiske elementer fra blandt andre Bourdieu, Butler og Giddens til praksisteori. Praksisteori er en særlig form for kulturteori, hvor det sociale placeres i performative processer. Forfatternes position fremhæver, at praksisteori bør ses som en særlig analytisk optik, kaldet et praksisteoretisk perspektiv. Derfor kan perspektivet tilpasses analytisk til specifikke empiriske forskningsfelter med hver deres viden, begreber og diskussioner. Et sådant praksisteoretisk perspektiv ser derfor også sociale praksisser som multirelationelle konfigurationer. Artiklen fremhæver tre områder, hvor et praksisteoretisk perspektiv i særlig grad bidrager til sociologiske epistemologiske diskussioner, nemlig i relation til krop, agency og normativitet. Ud fra forfatternes to forskellige sociologiske forskningsfelter (mad-sociologi og interkulturel kommunikation) viser og diskuterer artiklen de konkrete analytiske og metodiske fordele ved at anvende et praksisteoretisk perspektiv. Af disse kan nævnes, at man kan lave hverdagslivsanalyse uden at privilegere fænomenologi; man kan arbejde socialkonstruktivistisk uden at privilegere diskurs; man kan nytænke agency begrebet som empirisk kategori; og man kan tænke magt som konventionalitet.
ENGELSK ABSTRACT:
Bente Halkier & Iben Jensen: The Social as Performativity.
A Practice-theoretical Perspective on Analysis and Method
The article introduces recent international attempts to synthesize theoretical elements from among others Bourdieu, Butler and Giddens into a practice theory. Practice theory is a particular type of cultural theory in which the social is placed in performative processes. The authors argue that practice theory should be seen as a particular analytical approach, called a practice theoretical perspective. This perspective can be adapted analytically to specific empirical research fields, each representing its own assemblages of knowledge, concepts and discussions. Hence, such a practice theoretical perspective sees social practices as multi-relational configurations. The article emphasizes three areas, in which a practice theoretical perspective contributes to epistemological sociological discussions; the areas of the body, agency and normativity. The article demonstrates and discusses the concrete analytical and methodological advantages of using a practice theoretical perspective in relation to two different sociological research fields: sociology of food and intercultural communication. Some of these advantages are that it is possible to do everyday life analysis without privileging phenomenology; it is possible to work social constructivist without privileging discourse; it is possible to rethink the concept of agency; and power can be thought of as conventionality.
Key words: Practice theory, cultural theory, performativity, epistemology, qualitative methods.
Body pedagogics, transactionalism and vélo identities: Becoming a cyclist in motorised societies
