Sociology as a Human Science: Essays on Interpretation and Causal Pluralism (Cultural Sociology)

Sociology as a Human Science is a set of foundational, wide-ranging and updated essays from Isaac Ariail Reed. Gathered together for the first time with a new introduction, they articulate a distinct perspective on concept and method in social science. Reed writes about realism and positivism, postmodernism and empiricism, mechanisms and causality, and power and history, developing thereby an understanding of the key debates out of which 21 st -century sociology has developed. Carefully considering all manner of arguments in metatheory and epistemology and moving towards a program of interpretive explanation focused on culture and power, Reed places sociology at the center of debates about knowledge production across the humanities and social sciences. His reconstructive approach, positioned “after the posts” (poststructuralism, postmodernism, and postcolonialism) provides a way for interpretive sociology to provide analytically sound, theoretically extensive, and empirically rich understandings of social life. Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction: Sociology as a Human Science 1 Debating Conceptual Method in the Humanities and Social Sciences 2 The Human Sciences Between Minimal and Maximal Interpretation 3 Structuring the Move from Minimal to Maximal Interpretation 3.1 Metatheoretical Frames 3.2 Mechanisms in Dispute 3.3 Toward an Interpretive Reconceptualization 4 Conclusion References Part I: Metatheoretical Frames Chapter 2: Epistemology Contextualized: Social Scientific Knowledge in a Post-Positivist Era 1 The Context of Investigation and the Context of Explanation 2 Epistemic Perspectives: Positivism and Its Discontents 2.1 Unity Through Reduction: Positivism 2.2 The Attack on Positivism: Revenge of the Contexts 2.3 Grounded Theory and the Ethnographic Project 2.4 Postmodern Ethnographies and Postcolonial Theory 3 Meaning and Social Action: Toward a Post-Positivist Synthesis 4 Conclusion References Chapter 3: Justifying Sociological Knowledge: From Realism to Interpretation 1 Introduction 2 Realism 2.1 Sociological Realism 2.2 Strict Realism 2.3 Reflexive Realism 2.4 The Structural Ambiguities of Reflexive Realism 2.5 Ontological Theory 2.6 The Pragmatics of Research 2.7 The Epistemic Break 3 From Realism to Interpretation 3.1 From the Pragmatics of Experiment to the Intelligibility of Subjective Experience 3.2 From Ontology to Locality 3.3 From the Epistemic Break to the Depth Hermeneutics of Social Formations 3.4 Sociological Interpretation: Some Examples 4 Conclusion References Part II: Mechanisms in Dispute Chapter 4: Formation Stories and Causality in Sociology 1 The Historical and Variable Ontology of the Social 2 Forcing Causes in Sociology 2.1 Variable Causality 2.2 Manipulation and Treatment 2.3 Mechanisms 2.3.1 Mechanisms as Microfoundations 2.3.2 Mechanisms as Components of Conjunctures 2.3.3 Mechanisms as Forcing Causes 2.4 Forcing Cause Claims Offer an Incomplete Map 3 Theorizing Formation Stories 4 What Gets Formed? 4.1 The Formation of Actors 4.2 Meso-Level Social Orders 4.3 Sociotechnical Objects 4.4 Macrocultural “Atmospheres” 5 Discussion 6 Conclusion References Chapter 5: Ratio via Machina: Three Standards of Mechanistic Explanation in Sociology 1 Introduction 2 Three Standards for Mechanistic Explanation 2.1 The Substantial Standard 2.2 The Formal Standard 2.3 The Metaphorical Standard 3 The Mechanisms Debates, Reconsidered 4 Against Mechanistic Fundamentalism, or the Dappled World of Sociology 5 Conclusion References Chapter 6: Meaning and Modularity: The Multivalence of “Mechanism” in Sociological Explanation 1 Introduction 2 What Is Mechanistic Explanation? 2.1 The Goals of Mechanism Models 3 Modular Mechanisms Models and Carving Up Causes 4 Mechanisms and the Modelling of Meaning 5 Objections: Modularizing Meaning? 6 The Uncomfortable Implications for the Sociology of Culture 7 Conclusion References Part III: Interpretive Reconceptualization Chapter 7: What Is Interpretive Explanation in Sociohistorical Analysis? 1 Introduction 2 Aristotle’s Four Causes in Sociological Theory: A Hermeneutic Possibility? 3 Rereading Aristotle: Forcing and Forming Causes 4 Public Opinion, Books, and the Causes of the French Revolution 4.1 Forming Causes in the Lead-Up to the French Revolution 4.2 Reading and Delegitimation 4.3 Initial Causal Interpretations 4.4 The Force Given Form: The Financial Crisis of the State Reconsidered 4.5 Culture as a Forcing Cause? 5 Discussion: How to Think About Forming Causes 5.1 Lack of Fixed Entities 5.2 An Eventful Approach to History 5.3 Assemblage 5.4 Dynamic Nominalism 5.5 Breaking the Break: Hermeneutics and Sociohistorical Analysis References Chapter 8: Power: Relational, Discursive, and Performative Dimensions 1 Introduction 1.1 From Concepts to Dimensions 2 Power: Conceptual Issues and Theoretical Debates 2.1 Making Sense of Sociological Theories of Power: Three Axes of Debate 3 Sociological Explanations, Causality, and Power 3.1 Relational-Realist 3.2 Discursive-Hermeneutic 3.3 Performative-Pragmatist 3.4 From Epistemology and Ontology to the Dimensions of Power 4 The Three Dimensions of Power: Definitions and an Example 4.1 An Example of Power’s Dimensions: Storming the Bastille and the French Revolution 4.1.1 Relational Power and the French Revolution 4.1.2 Discursive Power and the French Revolution 4.1.3 The Event of “the Bastille” and Performative Power 5 Relations Between the Three Dimensions of Power: Hypotheses and Discussion 5.1 How Autonomous Is the Performative? 6 Differentiating the Sources and Dimensions of Power in Framing Sociological Research 6.1 Cross-Tabulating the Dimensions and the Sources of Power 6.2 An Example: Differentiating Discursive from Cultural Power 7 Conclusion: Theorizing the Dimensions of Power with, and Beyond, Lukes References Index Untitled