Fluxes and Structures: Which Relational Gaze? A Comparison between Relational Sociologies

• Authors: Pierpaolo Donati
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Many scholars today share a view of relational sociology as a processual-transactional approach whose basic tenet is the fluid, relativistic, contingent, transactional character of social relations. They invite sociologists to see our so-called objects (societies, institutions, social patterns, conflicts, social movements, social classes, etc.) in a processual way. In this contribution the author objects that relationalism offers a reductive vision of social reality, because it supports a flat social ontology rather than a stratified social ontology. Relationalism reduces relationships to pure flows, considering structures as purely contingent, while relational sociology attributes a structure to relationships and gives autonomy to structures, even if they are produced by processes. We have to distinguish between different orders of reality: the processual-interactional (relationalist) and the relational orders. To see all of this, it is necessary to assume a relational gaze that is only possible if a supra-functional, morphogenetic framework is adopted.

Keywords

EN

relational gaze; critical realism; social constructivism; relational sociology; relational reflexivity

• Publisher: Polskie Towarzystwo Socjologiczne
• Journal: Polish Sociological Review
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 210
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 179-198

Dates

published

2020-06-24

Contributors

author

Pierpaolo Donati

• University of Bologna

Identifiers

DOI

10.26412/psr210.03