The Over- or the Undersocialized Conception of Man? Practice Theory and the Problem of Intersubjectivity

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2321760
AutoresAntti Gronow (0000-0002-7639-6422, University of Helsinki, autor de correspondencia)
Año2008
Volumen42
Número2
Páginas243-259
Fecha de publicación2008-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0038038507087352
OpenAlexW1965974306
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas18
Referencias citadas27

In recent years practice theory has challenged the leading position of social constructionism within action and social theory. This challenge has mainly come from realist thinkers in practice theory. One such thinker is Margaret Archer, who has argued that pre-social practices constitute selfhood independent of social factors. While welcoming critiques of constructionism, I maintain that realist practice theory gives an undersocialized picture of selfhood at the expense of intersubjectivity, which is a founding feature of proper agency and selfhood. The private realm of selfhood nevertheless exists, and it can be theorized as consisting of internal conversations. These conversations are a mediating factor between action and social structures. However, in the maintenance of structures the role of reflexive deliberation is subordinate to habitual dispositions because the former is usually present in situations of crisis, whereas habitual action is the normal state of affairs

Action (physics · Action theory (sociology · Agency (philosophy · Communicative action · Deliberation · Epistemology · Intersubjectivity · Politics · Realm · Reflexivity · Social constructionism · Social science · Social theory · Sociological theory · Sociology · Structure and agency · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Realism in Sociology · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Philosophy