Micro‐situational Foundations of Social Structure

An Interactionist Exploration of Affective Sanctioning

Bibliographic Data

ID7101455
AuthorsIrene Rafanell (0000-0002-9349-3478, School of Social Sciences University of the West of Scotland High St. Paisley PA1 2BE UK, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume43
Issue2
Pages181-204
Publication date2013-01-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal for the Theory of Social Behaviour (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-8308 • E-ISSN: 1468-5914
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jtsb.12012
OpenAlexW1894135391
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited24

Micro‐interaction dynamics of affective sanctioning have been widely acknowledged but rarely related to the emergence of social phenomena. This paper aims to highlight the constitutive force of interaction activity by critically analysing two sociological models, B ourdieu's theory of practice and B arnes's P erformative T heory of S ocial I nstitutions ( PTSI ). Such a comparison allows me to reveal two differing models of social phenomena currently operating in sociological debates: an extrinsic structuralist model which tacitly conveys macro‐structural phenomena as prior and determinant of individuals and their micro‐interactions, and an intrinsic structuralism model which prioritizes individuals’ interactions and conceives them as constituting both the individual and the structural. I argue that the latter's emphasis on the dynamics of mutual susceptibility to affective sanctioning as underpinning consensus among inherently heterogeneous individuals provides a platform to further support the tenets of Interactionism and helps to expose B ourdieu's over‐deterministic methodological individualism prevalent in most sociological theory. I conclude that by conceiving emotions as causal, rather than the effect of social forces, sociological theory can provide an explanation of both individual practices and systemic phenomena which resolves macro‐structural tensions. In doing so, I suggest an ontological understanding of the “social” which supports the Interactionist central tenet that the local takes priority over wider structural phenomena

Economics · Epistemology · Individualism · Interactionism · Meaning (existential · Methodological individualism · Situational ethics · Social science · Sociological theory · Sociology · Structuralism (philosophy of science · Symbolic interactionism · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology