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JAMES'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF INTERACTIONIST SOCIOLOGY

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Alijevova D.

Sociológia (Sociology)

2005

vol. 37

issue 3

215-226

The article is devoted to evaluation of the contribution of William James as one of the founders of pragmatism to the origin of interactionist sociology. Along with the general recognition of special role of James among sociologists, we sometimes encounter a certain underestimation of his influence. The neglect of relevant attention to his legacy was partly conditioned by the overall silence concerning the founders of interactionism that dominated over American sociology thanks Parsons. But in fact it was Jamesian postulate of radical empiricism that was so important for the formation of empirical orientation in early American sociology. A Jamesian emphasis on the empirical world as the point of departure and the point of return became the starting point for the interactionism in its research as well as in its social politics, which was based on the principle of meliorism, which was the cornerstone of Jamesian pragmatism. Pragmatism also declared the conception of active human being, which became the fundamental principle of early interactionists (W. I. Thomas, R. Park. G. H. Mead). This idea followed from Jamesian conception of the stream of consciousness. In 'The Principles of Psychology' James has developed an original theory of 'multiple Self', which was the source of the Coolean and the Meadean conception of Self. His analysis of the elements of Self (Me and I) prepared the development of the reference group theory and the theory of role sets. James abandoned the position of dogmatic monism and tends toward pluralism. His persistent attempt to relativise the Self, the consciousness, the truth, led him to the discovery of a world that is very similar to our 'risk-filled', uncertain and fallible post-modern world. The fruitfulness of James's legacy is evident today, when his idea of the 'multiple Self' is successfully applied to building a theory of identity of post-modern man.

PARALLEL WORLDS OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

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Alijevova D.

Sociológia (Sociology)

2006

vol. 38

issue 5

367-398

The article is devoted to the co-existence of such different contemporary sociological approaches as the post-modern social theory and the mainstream sociology, represented by functionalism. Their thematic and conceptual differences are so significant that the metaphor of the 'parallel worlds' of the sociological theory seems to be adequate to describe the present situation. The analysis focuses on the late works of J. Baudrillard as the most important representative of the post-modern social theory. Baudrillard declares that the social theory is dead because the key social factors like class and ethnic differences have disappeared with the creation of an undifferentiated mass. This declaration leads Baudrillard towards creating a new way of sociologizing and a new sociological vocabulary, which sharply contrasts with the concepts of the mainstream sociology. The masses for him are a non-social category - a 'silent majority', a 'black hole' that absorbs all social characteristics of the system. It is their fatal strategies that are so crucial for the fate of the social world. The similar position in this respect is typical for another eminent French post-modern theorist M. Maffesoli. For him, the masses have lost their political and economical characteristics - they are not anymore the subject of the world history. Naturally, such 'antisocial theory' make the post-modern sociology unacceptable for the most mainstream sociologists in their research and theorizing. They live in their own sociological universe that had been created during the long sociological tradition. The core conception of mainstream sociology is represented by structural-functionalism, which has been recently revived in the works of neo-functionalists (J. Alexander, P. Colomy, S. N. Eisenstadt, F. Lechner, R. Munch). The functionalism survives not only in the sociological theory but also in the 'practical sociological reasoning'. It presents the sociological theory that is parallel to the post-modern social theory. The third parallel structure in the contemporary sociology is presented by the Marxist social theory. It has also survived in the works of the eminent modern (A. Giddens, P. Bourdieu) and post-modern (J. Baudrillard, M. Maffesoli, F. Jameson) sociologists. An outstanding example of the 'latent Marxism' in the recent years is the conception of the informational society by M. Castells. In comparison with the functionalism that embodies the consensual thinking, the Marxism presents a conflict-oriented critical position which makes it a popular ideology in contemporary globalizing world.

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JAMES'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF INTERACTIONIST SOCIOLOGY

PARALLEL WORLDS OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY