Relational Studies in Sociology  

In contemporary sociology, with its inheritance of debate on epistemological paradigms going back to the classic works, the conviction seems to be emerging that if we are to understand ongoing socio-cultural processes, a privileged place needs to be given to the subject of social relations. Although the classics of sociology (Simmel in particular) had to some extent laid the basis for a relational sociology, it is only in the last three decades  that a series of scholars have developed a “relational” sociological theory in a more or less systematic manner. The first version was formulated by Pierpaolo Donati (Introduzione alla sociologia relazionale, 1983; Teoria relazionale della società, 1991), and subsequently other versions appeared, as for example those of Harrison C. White (Identity and Control: A Structural Theory of Social Action, 1992), Guy Bajoit (Pour une sociologie relationnelle, 1992), Simon Laflamme (Communication et émotion. Essai de microsociologie relationnelle, 1995), Mustafa Emirbayer (Manifesto for Relational Sociology, 1997), Nick Crossley (Toward Relational Sociology, 2010), Margaret Archer (The Reflexive Imperative in Late Modernity, 2012). Each of these formulations is quite different and they do not always focus on relational sociologies strictly speaking - sometimes it would be more appropriate to speak of a transactional sociology (in the case of Emirbayer) or of a configurational sociology (in the case of Elias). In the light of these developments the promoters of the relational studies in sociology network feel that it may be a good moment to undertake a comparative analysis of the various versions of “relational sociology”, starting with the different ways of understanding the concept of social relations so as to clarify convergences and divergences, whether theoretical or empirical (a portion of a reflexion on this problematic has been presented in the volume by Pierpaolo Donati: Relational Sociology. A New Paradigm for the Social Sciences Routledge 2011). This site has the aim of creating a network of all the scholars of relational sociology, making their works known, identifying the specific characteristics of the different approaches, and comparing their respective capacity to analyse and understand emergent social phenomena. The network, which benefits from the support of a scientific committee, is open to collaboration with - and suggestions from - all those scholars who may be interested in its goals.
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P. Donati, Transcending Modernity with Relational Thinking, Routledge, London, 2021. Download
E. Halas, A. Manterys (eds.), Relational Reasons, Morals and Sociality, Peter Lang, Berlin, 2021 (link) (table of contents)
E. Carrà, P. Terenzi (eds.), The Relational Gaze on a Changing Society, Peter Lang, Berlin, 2019 (link)
P. Donati, A. Malo, G. Maspero (eds.), Social Science, Philosophy and Theology in Dialogue: A Relational Perspective. Abingdon: Routledge, 2019 (link)
P. Donati, Sociología relacional de lo humano, Eunsa, Pamplona, 2019 (link).
A. Maccarini, Deep Change and Emergent Structures in Global Society: Explorations in Social Morphogenesis, Springer, 2019 (link). 
 
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