Randall Collins on status groups and statuses

Bibliographic Data

ID4967977
AuthorsBarry Barnes (University of Exeter, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume154
Issue1
Pages28-37
Publication date2019-10-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThesis Eleven (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0725-5136 • E-ISSN: 1461-7455
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0725513619874930
OpenAlexW2974573196
LanguageEN
References cited14

This paper focuses on what could be learned about statuses and status groups from the work of Randall Collins in the 1980s, and in particular from Weberian Sociological Theory (1986). I mention how I myself found this book useful at that time to further my own work in the sociology of science and in sociological theory, and emphasise its value in appreciating the fundamental and irremediable deficiencies of individualistic rational choice theory in both contexts. I go on to note how Collins, a 'macro' sociologist in the 1980s, was nonetheless well aware of the indispensable role of micro-sociology in advancing the fundamental understanding of the field as a whole, and his singling out of Erving Goffman and Harold Garfinkel as primus inter pares for their special theoretical importance at this time. I say a little about why these two did indeed have much to contribute to an understanding of statuses and of status groups and still do even today, and end by noting how effectively Collins has used and built upon the work of Goffman in particular since the 1980s

Action theory (sociology · Field (mathematics · Individualism · Methodological individualism · Sociological theory · Sociology of knowledge · Value (mathematics · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Power and Status Dynamics

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub