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Integrating institutional, relational and embodied structure: an emergentist perspective.
1Department of Sociology, University of Essex, UK. d.eldervass@ntlworld.com
The British Journal of Sociology
|May 24, 2008
Summary
This study proposes an emergentist framework for understanding social institutions, emphasizing the importance of social structures as wholes. It integrates institutional, relational, and embodied perspectives for a comprehensive view of social reality.
Area of Science:
- Social Sciences
- Sociology
- Philosophy of Social Science
Background:
- The debate on social structure involves institutional and relational concepts.
- Embodied structure offers a recent integration but is insufficient alone.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an emergentist and realist account of normative social institutions.
- To address limitations in current conceptualizations of social structure.
Main Methods:
- Critically analyzing existing theories of social structure (institutional, relational, embodied).
- Proposing an emergentist framework to synthesize these concepts.
Main Results:
- Current approaches neglect social structures as wholes.
- Embodiment alone cannot integrate institutional and relational structures.
- An emergentist perspective is necessary to understand social structures holistically.
Conclusions:
- Social structures must be understood as emergent wholes.
- An emergentist framework reconciles institutional, relational, and embodied aspects.
- This approach provides a more complete understanding of social reality.
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