
The Relational Subject
Cambridge University Press
Published on 17. June 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
356 pages
978-1-107-51395-2 (ISBN)
Description
Many social theorists now call themselves 'relational sociologists', but mean entirely different things by it. The majority endorse a 'flat ontology', dealing exclusively with dyadic relations. Consequently, they cannot explain the context in which relationships occur or their consequences, except as resultants of endless 'transactions'. This book adopts a different approach which regards 'the relation' itself as an emergent property, with internal causal effects upon its participants and external ones on others. The authors argue that most 'relationists' seem unaware that analytical philosophers, such as Searle, Gilbert and Tuomela, have spent years trying to conceptualize the 'We' as dependent upon shared intentionality. Donati and Archer change the focus away from 'We thinking' and argue that 'We-ness' derives from subjects' reflexive orientations towards the emergent relational 'goods' and 'evils' they themselves generate. Their approach could be called 'relational realism', though they suggest that realists, too, have failed to explore the 'relational subject'.
Reviews / Votes
'The Relational Subject by Pierpaolo Donati and Margaret Archer is something new under the sun ... what Donati and Archer have produced seems to me distinctly new both to standard Western sociology and the standard Western philosophy of social science. The theory articulated in The Relational Subject is certainly distinctly different from the varieties of relational sociology that precede it ...' Douglas V. Porpora, Journal of Critical RealismMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
27 Line drawings, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
522 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-107-51395-2 (9781107513952)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Pierpaolo Donati | Margaret S. Archer
The Relational Subject
Book
06/2015
Cambridge University Press
€115.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Pierpaolo Donati is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre of Studies on Social Innovation (CESIS) at the University of Bologna, Italy. Margaret S. Archer is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Social Ontology at the University of Warwick.
Content
Part I: 1. Introduction: relational sociology: reflexive and realist; 2. The plural subject versus the relational subject; Part II: Prologue: the sources of relational subjects and their resources; 3. The relational subject and the person: self, agent and actor; 4. Socialization as relational reflexivity; 5. Culture reproaches to relationist sociology; Part III: Prologue: the range of relational subjects: where and how they emerge; 6. When relational subjects generate relational goods; 7. The emergence of collective relational subjects and their societal impact: beyond the market/state binary code; 8. Relational subjects and the ravages of globalized markets: the need for subjects with relational ethics; 9. Conclusions: collective subjects and the added value of social relations.