Relativist program in sociology. From everyday life to the new ontology of social world

Relativist program in sociology. From everyday life to the new ontology of social world


Erofeeva M.A.

Сand. Sci.(Soc.), Senior Research Fellow, International Center for Contemporary Social Theory, Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences; Research Fellow, Center for Sociological Research, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moscow, Russia erofeeva-ma@ranepa.ru

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Erofeeva M.A. Relativist program in sociology. From everyday life to the new ontology of social world. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2014. No 1. P. 134-137




Abstract

In contemporary sociological theory there exists a significant doubt as to the existence of society and demands for a new social ontology. In particular, in the sociology of everyday life the final status of reality is ascribed to relations (I. Goffman). The article discusses relativisation of sociality in post-modern (J. Baudrillard) and actor-network (B. Latour) theories. Debated are: the relation between simulation of reality theory (J. Baudrillard) and the problem of events intransitivity (G. Bateson), overcoming the autonomy of the sphere of signs through the conceptualization of the hybrid world (B. Latour). A critical attitude is taken towards relativist program in the sociology from the point of view of I. Goffman’s theory of frames.


Keywords
Goffman I.; postmodernism; actor-network theory; relativity; social ontology; sociological explanation; sociological theory
Content No 1, 2014