Rivalry as a social relationship

Conceptualizing the micro-foundations of competition

Bibliographic Data

ID12848495
AuthorsA Preda (0000-0003-2456-2713, King's College London, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume24
Issue1
Pages87-110
Publication date2021-10-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDistinktion Journal of Social Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1600-910X • E-ISSN: 2159-9149
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1600910x.2021.1972021
OpenAlexW3208362103
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited67

Recent sociological conceptualizations of competition emphasize its discursive or institutional aspects, such as rankings. Although macro- and meso-sociological takes on competition are more or less well established, micro-sociological approaches are less so. What does it mean to be in competition from the perspective of everyday social relationships and interactions? A possible answer is provided by the concept of rivalry. In this paper, I examine the evolution of the concept of rivalry and its development in the sociological tradition in the early to mid-twentieth century, especially in the work of Georg Simmel, Leopold von Wiese, Karl Mannheim, but also, later, Erving Goffman. I argue that a micro-sociological focus on rivalrous social relationships and interactions is able to address at least some of the issues concerning a micro-sociology of competition. Grounded in an examination of this tradition, I discuss how rivalry relates to sociological notions such as social knowledge, action, worth, and evaluation. I distinguish two intersecting logics of competition, namely, the logic of action and the logic of observation. I argue that a typology of rivalries cutting across various domains of social life can be worked out according to this intersection. A micro-sociology of rivalries can make a genuine contribution to the sociological investigation of competition

Action (physics · Competition (biology · Economics · Epistemology · Historical sociology · Rivalry · Social science · Sociological imagination · Sociological theory · Sociology · Typology · Anthropology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Management and Organizational Studies · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

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