The Relational Subject PDF
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The Relational Subject More and more social theorists are now calling themselves ‘Relational Sociologists’, but they mean entirely different things by this term. It can coveranythingfromreductionistmethodologicalindividualismtoaform ofholisticsociologicalimperialismthatdeemsallourrelationstobeexclu- sively ‘social’. The majority, however, endorse a ‘flat ontology’, dealing exclusively with dyadic relations. Consequently, they cannot explain the contextinwhichrelationshipsoccurdespitetherebeingnosuchthingas context-lessaction.Italsomeansthattheoutcomesofrelationalitycanbe explained only as the result of an endless series of ‘transactions’, whose aggregationwouldsomehowaccountforsocialstabilityandchange.The approach of this book is quite different, in regarding ‘the relation’ itself asanemergentproperty,withinternalcausaleffectsuponitsparticipants and external ones on others. A second difference is that many of these ‘Relationists’ appear unaware that analytical philosophers, such as John Searle, Margaret Gilbert, and Raimo Tuomela, have spent twenty years trying to vindicate a concept of the ‘We’ that gives rise to commitment, cooperation,andcollectiveaction;onethatalsogeneratesdeonticrights: obligations, rights, and duties. Uniformly, they have worked on differ- ent versions of shared intentionality. In this book, however, ‘We-ness’ is held to derive from subjects’ reflexive orientations towards the emergent relational ‘goods’ and ‘evils’ they themselves generate – then affecting theiractionsinacouple,aworkgroup,sport’steam,orchestra,voluntary associationorsocialmovement.Bothauthorscouldbecalled‘Relational Realists’, but we have something to offer to Realism too, which, despite itshumanism,hasfailedtoexplorethe‘RelationalSubject’. pierpaolo donatiisProfessorofSociologyandDirectoroftheCentre ofStudiesonSocialInnovation(CESIS)attheUniversityofBologna,Italy. margaret s. archer is Professor of Sociology and Director of the CentreforSocialOntologyattheUniversityofWarwick. The Relational Subject pierpaolo donati and margaret s. archer UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107513952 (cid:2)C PierpaoloDonatiandMargaretS.Archer2015 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2015 PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata Donati,Pierpaolo,1946– Therelationalsubject/PierpaoloDonatiandMargaretS.Archer. pages cm Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978-1-107-10611-6(hardback)–ISBN978-1-107-51395-2(paperback) 1.Intergrouprelations. 2.Interpersonalrelations. 3.Socialinteraction. 4.Sociology. I.Archer,MargaretScotford. II.Title. HM716.D66 2015 301–dc23 2015001681 ISBN978-1-107-10611-6Hardback ISBN978-1-107-51395-2Paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication, anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. To all those who by pursuing mutual concern and reciprocity, generate relational goods for the flourishing of a new civil society Contents Listoffigures pageix Acknowledgements xi PartI 1 Introduction:RelationalSociology:reflexiveandrealist 3 pierpaolo donati and margaret s. archer 2 ThePluralSubjectversustheRelationalSubject 33 margaret s. archer and pierpaolo donati PartII Prologue:ThesourcesofRelationalSubjectsand theirresources 79 3 TheRelationalSubjectandtheperson:self,agent, andactor 85 margaret s. archer 4 SocializationasRelationalReflexivity 123 margaret s. archer 5 CulturalreproachestoRelationistSociology 155 margaret s. archer PartIII Prologue:TherangeofRelationalSubjects:whereand howtheyemerge 183 6 WhenRelationalSubjectsgeneraterelationalgoods 198 pierpaolo donati vii viii Contents 7 TheemergenceofcollectiveRelationalSubjectsandtheir societalimpact:beyondthemarket/statebinarycode 229 pierpaolo donati 8 RelationalSubjectsandtheravagesofglobalizedmarkets: theneedforsubjectswithrelationalethics 263 pierpaolo donati 9 Conclusions:Collectivesubjectsandtheaddedvalueof socialrelations 301 pierpaolo donati and margaret s. archer Index 332 Figures 2.1 TheWe-relation(relationalgood)ofacouple page71 3.1 Threekindsofrelationswithnaturalrealityandtheir resultanttypesofknowledge 95 3.2 RelationalphasesoftheSelf 103 3.3 Alife-longtask:themakingofaPerson 104 3.4 RelationalReflexivityentailstheThirdinthedepartment 110 3.5 ThestratifiedontologicaldevelopmentofthehumanPerson 111 3.6 Themorphogeneticelaborationofpersonaland socialidentities 113 3.7 Thedevelopmentofthestratifiedhumanbeing 114 4.1 WherestudentsstandontheDDDschemeatpointofentry 139 4.2 Familyrelationalgoodsandnecessaryselection 144 4.3 Emily’sinabilitytoShapeaLifeasanundergraduate 151 5.1 LogicalandcausalrelationswithinCulture 167 5.2 Culturalmorphogenesis 168 P.1 AmapofRelationalSubjects:theprobability(p)ofthere beingRelationalSubjects 184 P.2 TheRelationalSubjectatthemeso-level 189 6.1 Thefourfundamentaltypesofgoodsproducedinsociety 210 6.2 Fourareasofsocialrelationsdifferentiatedonthebasisof degreesofactors’freedomandthetypeofgoodproduced 218 6.3 TheplacementofRelationalSubjectsamongthefour fundamentaltypesofsocialsubjects 220 7.1 Lib/labsystems’economiclogic(anevolutionarymodel, supposedlybringing‘progress’) 236 7.2 Theeconomiclogicofarelationalsociety 241 7.3 Twoparadigmaticformsofeconomy 245 7.4 Thenewconfigurationofafter-modernsociety 247 8.1 Asociologicalframeworkfortheissue 279 8.2 Themorphogeneticcycleofmoralresponsibility 285 ix
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