Conceptualising the Social World: Principles of Sociological Analysis Paperback

353 Pages·2011·1.89 MB·English

by  John Scott

Conceptualising the Social World
This comprehensive and authoritative statement of fundamental
principles of sociological analysis integrates approaches that are often
seen as mutually exclusive. John Scott argues that theorising in sociology
and other social sciences is characterised by the application of eight key
principles of sociological analysis: culture, nature, system, space-time,
structure, action, mind, and development. He considers the principal
contributions to the study of each of these dimensions in their historical
sequence in order to bring out the cumulative character of knowledge.
Showing that the various principles can be combined in a single discip-
linary framework, Scott argues that sociologists can work most product-
ively within an intellectual division of labour that transcends artifi cial
theoretical and disciplinary differences. Sociology provides the central
ideas for conceptualising the social, but it must co-exist productively
with other social science disciplines and disciplinary areas.
JOHN SCOTT is Professor of Sociology at the University of Plymouth,
where he is currently Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research. He is the author
of numerous books including Social Theory (2006), P ower (2001), and
Social Structure (with Jose Lopez, 2000). With James Fulcher he is the
author of Sociology (4th edn, 2011) and with Gordon Marshall he edits
the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology (3rd edn, 2005). His special areas of
interest include social stratifi cation, economic sociology, social network
analysis, and the history of sociology.
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Conceptualising the
Social World
Principles of Sociological Analysis
John Scott

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© John Scott 2011
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and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2 011
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Scott, John, 1949–
Conceptualising the social world : principles of sociological
analysis / John Scott.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-521-88449-5 (hardback)
1. Sociology–Research. 2. Sociology–Methodology. I. Title.
HM571.S36 2011
301.01–dc22 2011013370
ISBN 978-0-521-88449-5 Hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-71136-4 Paperback
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or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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Contents
List of fi gures page vii
1 Diversity and Continuity in Social Theory 1
2 Culture: the Socialisation of Meaning 11
Culture, language, and meaning 13
Culture as collective mentality 16
Communication and cultural reproduction 22
Cultural differentiation and diversity 24
Symbolic systems and cultural codes 28
Culture, discourse, and power 35
3 Nature: Conditions and Constraints 39
Environment and way of life 42
Determinism and possibilism 48
Habitat, place, and way of life 5 4
Bodies and the genetic mechanism 5 8
Cultural and social construction 63
Race and ethnicity 70
Sex, gender, kinship 76
Matters of life and death 82
4 Systemic Processes: Regulation and Control 86
Motion, forces, and fi elds 88
Organisation, emergence, and function 93
Information, integration, and autonomy 1 03
Complexity and chaos 113
5 Space-Time: Forms and Practices 116
Space 1 16
Formal conceptions of space 1 21
Surfaces and urban structures 126
Time 130
Social time, temporalising practices, and objectifi ed time 1 34
Levels of time and structures of time 1 40
v
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vi Contents
6 Social Structure: Institutions and Relations 144
The facticity of social structures 1 46
Institutional structure 1 51
Relational structure 159
Structuration and causal power 1 69
7 Social Action: Interpersonal and Collective 1 76
Action and social action 178
Strategic action and social exchange 1 88
Committed action and symbolic interaction 1 94
Agency, structure, and refl exivity 202
Collective action 205
8 Subjects: Socialised Minds 214
Mind and mentality 217
Instincts and emotions 222
Personality structure and the unconscious 2 30
Cognitive and emotional integrity 2 36
Sleep, dreams, and neuroses 238
Personality development 242
9 Social Development: Differentiation and Change 251
Growth, development, and differentiation 2 52
Unilinear and multilinear development 2 56
Confl ict, diffusion, and path dependence 2 61
10 Conclusion 267
Notes 275
References 281
Index 325
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Figures
1 Homeostasis in a social system page 97
2 The multidimensional action space 107
3 The four subsystems of action 108
4 Action orientations 183
vii
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Conceptualising the Social World
Principles of Sociological Analysis
John Scott
Book DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511851988
Online ISBN: 9780511851988
Hardback ISBN: 9780521884495
Paperback ISBN: 9780521711364
Chapter
1 - Diversity and Continuity in Social Theory pp. 1-10
Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511851988.001
Cambridge University Press
1 Diversity and Continuity in Social Theory
A diversity of theories and perspectives is widely seen as an essential
characteristic of sociology and, perhaps, an especially marked feature
of contemporary sociology. For many observers, this diversity is a sign
of chronic intellectual failure and as an indication of the chaotic state
into which the subject has fallen and cannot escape. Sociology, it is
concluded, is too undisciplined to be counted a social ‘science’ and
cannot be relied upon to produce factual knowledge or to guide prac-
tical action. For the more radical commentators this state of affairs is a
consequence of the over-enthusiastic establishment during the 1960s of
a non-discipline taught and researched by intellectual charlatans. These
criticisms of the intellectual claims of sociology have come both from
those in other, purportedly more rigorous disciplines and from those
outside the academic world. Many in politics and the civil service have
added to this the assertion that the diversity of viewpoints is driven by
political bias: intellectual choices, they argue, are made not on the basis
of logic and evidence but in relation to political preferences and preju-
dices. Indeed, this claim is usually stated as a view that diversity occurs
within a limited range of the political spectrum and that the subject as
a whole is characterised by a left-wing bias. 1 Such strong expressions
are less marked now than they were thirty years ago, when the British
government forced the Social Science Research Council to drop the
word ‘science’ from its title and to face a reduced level of funding as the
Economic and Social Research Council. The attack against sociology
was furthered through the introduction of market considerations to
both research and teaching, on the grounds that only practically useful
intellectual work should be supported from public funds. Fortunately
for sociology, but not for the government, the subject proved one of
the most popular consumer choices among students and policy-makers.
The neo-liberal market strategy initiated a major expansion in soci-
ology and helped to re-establish its position within policy discourse.
Despite this change in the political context of sociology, the suspicion
lingers that sociology is insufficiently rigorous and is more concerned
1
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