Sociological Theory in Transition (RLE Social Theory)

2014 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory

scholarly journals The Application of Abductive and Retroductive Inference for the Design and Analysis of Theory-Driven Sociological Research

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha B. Meyer ◽  
Belinda Lunnay
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Medical Professionals ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
Qualitative Research Design

Abductive and retroductive inference are innovative tools of analysis which enable researchers to refine and redevelop social theory. This paper describes and demonstrates how to apply these tools to strengthen sociological theory-driven empirical research outputs. To illustrate how abductive and retroductive inference work for the benefit of enhanced qualitative analysis we present the findings of a qualitative study that investigated heart disease patients’ trust in medical professionals (n=37). We outline the research process using a six-stage model developed by Danermark et al. (1997) that will guide researchers doing exploratory research in how to use abductive and retroductive inference in qualitative research design and analysis. A snapshot of the study findings are provided for illustration purposes. The reader will learn how the application of these under-utilized methodological tools provides a novel way of analyzing sociological research.

THE CURIOUS HISTORICAL DETERMINISM OF RANDALL COLLINS

2003 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
BARBARA MISZTAL ◽  
DIETER FREUNDLIEB
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Global Theory ◽  
China And India ◽  
The Social ◽  
Medieval China ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Intellectual Creativity

Randall Collins' The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change (1998) examines and compares communities of intellectuals linked as networks in ancient and medieval China and India, medieval and modern Japan, ancient Greece, medieval Islam and Judaism, medieval Christendom and modern Europe. The book has been the subject of many interesting and often positive reflections (for example, European Journal of Social Theory 3 (I), 2000; Review Symposium or reviews in Sociological Theory 19 (I), March 2001). However, it has also attracted a number of critical reviews (for example, reviews in Philosophy of the Social Sciences 30 (2), June 2000). Since not many books achieve such notoriety, it is worthwhile to rethink Collins' controversial approach. The aim of this paper is to encourage further debates of notions and issues presented in Collins' book. We would like, by joining two voices—sociologist and philosopher—to reopen discussion of Collins' attempt to discover a universality of patterns of intellectual change, as we think that more interpretative rather than explanatory versions of our respective disciplines can enrich our understanding of blueprints of intellectual creativity.

Reshaping social theory from complexity and ecological perspectives

Thesis Eleven ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Smith ◽  
Chris Jenks
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Ecological Approach ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Philosophy Of Ecology

This article argues that Durkheim’s founding insight – uniquely social phenomena – presents us with both a foundation for the discipline of sociology and the risk that the discipline will become isolated. This, we argue, has happened. Our contention is that the emergent social phenomena need to be understood in relation to, but not reduced to, their biological and psychological substrates. Similarly, there are a number of other characteristics, notably of self-organization, which are distinguishing properties of social phenomena but also of quite different phenomena. The comparison is instructive. We therefore argue for an ecological approach to sociological theory, which has important relationships to the general theories and philosophy of ecology and biology. We explore a number of terminological and conceptual parallels that may inform our understanding of the relation of social theory to these and other disciplines.

scholarly journals The ‘duplex’ perspective as an attempt to resolve the key sociological dilemma

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 170-175
Author(s):  
I. Šulc
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Historical Sociology ◽  
Theoretical Knowledge ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Sociological Perspective ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
Sociological Thought

This article is a review of the books by the famous Czech sociologist, head of the Historical Sociology Chair of the Faculty for Humanities at the Charles University (Prague), Jiří Šubrt Historical Processes, Social Changes, and Modernization in the Sociological Perspective (Moscow: RUDN; 2017. 248 p.), Antinomies, Dilemmas, and Discussions in the Contemporary Sociological Thought: Essays on Social Theory (Moscow: RUDN; 2018. 280 p.), and Individualism, Holism and the Central Dilemma of Sociological Theory (Bingley: Emerald Publishig; 2019. 184 p.). All three works focus on the key sociological dilemma - individualism versus holism, which has been the main scientific interest of J. Šubrt in recent years. The relevance of this dilemma is obvious: individualism declares the subjectivity of the person, while holism insists on the objectivity of the supra-individual social reality, and this contradiction hinders the development of theoretical knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to try to resolve this contradiction, which Šubrt does by critically analyzing the previous attempts to resolve this dilemma and by considering it in the ‘duplex’ perspective that reflects both voluntarist and social principles.

‘Foundations of Social Theory’ oder ‘Foundations of Sociology’?

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Esser
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Collective Effects ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Cultural Processes ◽  
Sociological Profession ◽  
The One ◽  
Present Understanding

AbstractThe comment deals with the relevance of Coleman’s Foundations of Social Theory for so called ‘sociological theory’. On the one hand Coleman’s work is an extraordinary contribution to the solution of some of the most important ‘classical’ questions of sociology. On the other hand it is to be expected that the enormous potential of the book probably has only limited effects within the wider sociological profession. One reason for that estimation is the unfamiliarity of many sociologists with Coleman’s instruments of aggregation of collective effects. The other - more important - reason is that Coleman almost completely leaves out any discussion of the importance of ‘symbolic’ and ‘cultural’ processes. Insofar the book is indeed a ‘Foundation of Social Theory’ but not a foundation of ‘sociology’ in its past and present understanding.

scholarly journals Morphogenetic social theory: more questions than answers

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
Andrey Orekhov ◽  
◽  
Alexander Efimenkov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Analytical Methods ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
The Status ◽  
Philosophy Of Social Sciences

Introduction and the aim of the study. The paper analyzes the place and role of morphogenetic theory within a framework of contemporary socialtheoretical discourse. M. Archer’s morphogenetic theory and P. Donati’s relational conception are considered as two examples of this discourse. Methods. The authors use analytical methods (analysis, synthesis, etc.), applied in contemporary philosophy of social sciences. Scientific novelty. The key idea of the paper is analyzing morphogenetic social theory in terms of analytical scholasticism as a deviant way of contemporary social theory development. Results. Morphogenetic theory is rather a sociological theory than interdisciplinary social theory; the sophisticated language of “morphogenists” mat seem difficult for other scholars to understand; morphogenetic theory demonstrates indefinite perspectives concerning interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary discourse in the context of contemporary stage of social-humanitarian knowledge development. Conclusions. The status of “morphogenetic theory” among other directions of social theory is by far “peripheral”.

scholarly journals Alfredas Schützas ir atviri fenomenologinės sociologijos horizontai: intersubjektyvumo konstitucija ir orientacija Tavęsp

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-74
Author(s):  
Algimantas Valantiejus
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Natural Attitude ◽  
Phenomenological Sociology ◽  
Sociological Inquiry ◽  
Alfred Schütz ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Subjective View

Santrauka. Šio straipsnio tikslas – eksplikuoti fenomenologinės sociologijos ir socialinių mokslų metodologijos tarpusavio ryšius, detalizuoti fenomenologo Alfredo Schutzo įnašą į sociologijos teoriją ir bendrąją socialinių mokslų metodologiją, identifikuoti konstitucinės natūraliosios nuostatos fenomenologijos skiriamuosius bruožus ir teminius analizės lygmenis, o kartu panagrinėti potencialias fenomenologinės sociologijos radimosi Lietuvos socialinių mokslų kultūroje sąlygas ir aplinkybes. Teigiama, kad svarstant šiuos klausimus svarbu atsižvelgti į trinarę analitinę perskyrą tarp filosofijos, sociologijos ir kultūros. Trinarė analitinė perskyra padeda suprasti Schutzo pastangas artikuliuoti gyvenimo-pasaulio tipizacijų, relevantiškumo ir prasmės adekvatumo kriterijus, leidžia griežčiau apibrėžti fenomenologinės socialinės teorijos radimosi, tiksliau, at-minimo sąlygas ir principus.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: konstitucinė natūraliosios nuostatos fenomenologija, Alfredas Schutzas, socialinė teorija, fenomenologija Lietuvoje, trys relevantiški socialinio veiksmo horizontai – filosofijos, sociologijos ir kultūros.Key words: a constitutive phenomenology of the natural attitude, Alfred Schutz, social theory, phenomenology in Lithuania, the three relevant horizons of social action: philosophy, sociology and culture. ABSTRACTALFRED SCHÜTZ AND THE OPEN HORIZONS OF PHENOMENOLOGICAL SOCIOLOGY: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE INTERSUBJECTIVE STRUCTURE, AND THE THOU-ORIENTATIONThe aim of this essay is to articulate and explicate the relations between sociological theory and the phenomenological approach. This is done in two parts: the first looks at Schutz’s attempts to articulate a constitutive phenomenology of the natural attitude; the second explicates the methodological postulates formulated by Schutz for the construction of social scientific constructs. It is suggested that the nature of the conventional sociological inquiry in Lithuania must be reconsidered if the subjective view of actor is to be retained as relevant to both philosophical and sociological inquiry.

scholarly journals Sociology, Theory, and the Feminist Sociological Canon

SAGE Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824401769715
Author(s):  
Shannon N. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Doing Gender ◽  
Empirical World

In this article, I revisit the concept of “doing gender” to query whether the framework as directly articulated by West and Zimmerman is meant to be a description of social life (a social theory) or a testable and potentially falsifiable explanation of the empirical world (a sociological theory). I document how much of the research that uses “doing gender” is a misapplication of the concept as a social, rather than sociological, theory. I conclude by making the case for the role of “doing gender” in, rather than as, sociological theory.

In Search of the Wanderer and Free Spirits: The Ascetic Absence of Nietzsche in American Sociology

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-181
Author(s):  
Michael James Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Talcott Parsons ◽  
American Sociology ◽  
The Wanderer ◽  
Critical Social

This article examines the unfortunate absence of Nietzsche from sociological theory as it is practiced and reproduced in American sociology. The first part discusses how Talcott Parsons erased the presence of Nietzsche from Weber’s work as part of a larger ideological maneuver to provide a theoretical grounding for the belief in American exceptionalism. The second part of the article compares and contrasts Nietzsche to the conventional sociology of Weber and Durkheim in order to demonstrate how Nietzsche’s work provides sociologists with valuable material to be used for a critique of conventional sociological theory. American sociology is long overdue for a sustained engagement with Nietzsche. Such an undertaking is particularly relevant for those concerned with the on-going project of reconstructing a critical social theory that has emancipatory aims.

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