Conjunctures and Assemblages

Approaches to Multicausal Explanation in the Human Sciences

Bibliographic Data

ID20052699
AuthorsClaire Laurier Decoteau (0000-0001-5644-0361, corresponding author)
Year2018
Pages89-118
Publication date2018-08-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueCritical Realism, History, and Philosophy in the Social Sciences (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherEmerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1108/s0198-871920180000034005
OpenAlexW2884060004
ISBN9781787566040
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited30

This chapter suggests that moving beyond positivism entails a recognition that the social world is made up of complex phenomena that are heterogeneous, and events are caused by contingent conjunctures of causal mechanisms. To theorize the social world as heterogeneous is to recognize that social causes, categories, and groups combine different kinds of phenomena and processes at various levels and scales across time. To speak of conjunctural causation implies not only that events are caused by concatenations of multiple, intersecting forces but also that these combinations are historically unique and nonrepeatable. Both the historical materialist conception of the “conjuncture” and the poststructuralist theory of “assemblages” take heterogeneity and multicausality seriously. I compare and contrast these formulations across three dimensions: the structure of the apparatus, causation, and temporality. I argue that these theories offer useful tools to social scientists seeking to engage in complex, multicausal explanations. I end the article with an example of how to use these concepts in analyzing a complex historical case

Causation · Epistemology · Materialism · Positivism · Social science · Sociology · Temporality · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Realism in Sociology · Philosophy · Social and Cultural Dynamics

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