Mechanistic perspectives in sociological metatheorising

Oleksandr Rakhmanov - D.Sc. in Sociology, Аssistant professor, Leading Research Fellow of the Department of History and Theory of Sociology, Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv.

ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8884-5515

Abstract. The paper analyses the prospects for sociological metatheorising with regard to social mechanisms and mechanism-based explanations of social reality. The author has done a critical review of the most important works concerning a mechanism-based approach to social phenomena. The following points have been brought into focus: the basic principles of social mechanisms, examples of their use in sociological theories and prospects for their integration into analytical sociology. As analytical constructs, social mechanisms help to draw hypothetical connections between observable events. However, due to multiple definitions of social mechanisms it seems problematic to combine different interpretations of the mechanism-based approach in order to develop a common metatheory. Particular attention is given to J. Coleman’s mechanistic scheme of changes at the macro-level and to the mechanisms of democratisation in Ch. Tilly’s interpretation.

Keywords: metatheory, metatheorising, social mechanisms, analytical sociology

Publication in: ukr | rus

References

Coleman, J. S. (1990). Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press.

Coleman, J. S., Katz, E., Menzel, H. (1957). The Diffusion of an Innovation among Physicians. Sociometry, XX, 253–70. https://doi.org/10.2307/2785979

Edling, C., Rydgren, J. (2016). Social mechanisms in empirical sociology: Introduction to Special Issue. American Behavioral Scientist, 60 (10), 1135–1145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764216643128

Elster, J. (1989). Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Elster, J. (2007). Explaining Social Behavior: More Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511806421

Freese, J., Lutfey, K. (2011). Fundamental Causality: Challenges of an Animating Concept for Medical Sociology. In: B.A. Pescosolido, J.K. Martin, J. McLeod, A. Rogers (Eds.) The Handbook of the Sociology of Health, Illness, and Healing (pp. 67–81). New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7261-3_4

Gatskov, M. (2011). Sociologic analysis and logos. Explanatory scheme of analycal sociology. [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing, 4, 143–161. [= Гацков 2011]

Gatskov, M. (2014). Epistemological principles of analycal sociology. [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing, 1, 146–172. [= Гацков 2014]

Granovetter, M. (1978). Threshold Models of Collective Behavior. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 1420–1443. https://doi.org/10.1086/226707

Granovetter, M., Soong, R. (1983). Threshold Models of Diffusion and Collective Behavior. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 9, 165–79.

Gross, N. (2009). A pragmatist theory of social mechanisms. American Sociological Review, 2009, 74, 358–379. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400302

Hedström, P., Ylikoski, P. (2010). Causal mechanisms in the social sciences. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 49–67.

Hedström, P., Udéhn, L. (2009). Analytical sociology and theories of the middle range. In: P. Hedström, P. Bearman (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology (pp. 25–49). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199215362.013.2

Hedström, P., Bearman, P. (2009). What is analytical sociology all about? An introductory essay, In: P. Hedström, P. Bearman (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology (pp. 3–24). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199215362.013.1

Hedström, P., Swedberg, R. (1998b) Social mechanisms: An introductory essay. In: P. Hedström, R. Swedberg (Eds.) Social Mechanisms: An Analytical Approach to Social Theory (pp. 1–31). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511663901.001

Hedström, P., Swedberg, R. (Eds.), (1998a). Social Mechanisms: An Analytical Approach to Social Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Link, B. G., Phelan, J. (1995). Social Conditions as Fundamental Causes of Disease. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 35, 80–94.

Mahoney, J. (2001). Review essay: Beyond correlational analysis: recent innovations in theory and method. Sociological Forum. 16, 575–593.

Melloni, E., Pesce, F., Vasilescu, C. (2016). Are social mechanisms usable and useful inevaluation research? Evaluation, 22 (2), 209–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389016643900

Merton, R. K. ([1948] 1968). The Self-fulfilling Prophecy. In: Social Theory and Social Structure (pp. 475–490). New York: The Free Press.

Merton, R. K. (1967). On Sociological Theories of the Middle Range. In: On Theoretical Sociology (pp. 39–72). New York: The Free Press.

Opp, K.-D. (2005). Explanations by mechanisms in the social sciences. Problems, advantages and alternatives. Mind and Society, 4, 163–178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11299-005-0013-8

Reznik, O. (2016). The horizontal social integration in a transitional society. [In Ukrainian]. In: O. Zlobina (Eds.) Socio-psychological factors of integration of Ukrainian society (pp. 62–80). Kyiv: Institute of Sociology of the NAS of Ukraine. [= Резнік 2016]

Reznik, V. (2015). Social order theories: experience of structuration and teaching following the J. Colman explanation pattern. [In Ukrainian]. Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing, 4, 157–179. [= Резнік 2015]

Shelukhin, V.A. (2015). The principle of utility maximization beyond the classical conception of rationality: “social mechanism” as an alternative. [In Ukrainian]. Actual problems of sociology, psychology, pedagogy, 1 (29), 13–20 [= Шелухін 2015]

Tilly, C. (2001). Mechanisms in political processes. Annual Review of Political Science, 4, 21–41.

Weinberg, S. (1993). Dreams of a Final Theory: The Search for the Fundamental Laws of Nature. London: Vintage.

Ylikoski, P. (2009). The illusion of depth of understanding in science. In: H. De Regt, S. Leonelli, K. Eigner (Eds.) Scientific understanding: Philosophical perspectives (pp. 100–119). Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt9qh59s

Ylikoski, P. (2016). Thinking with the Coleman Boat. The Institute for Analytical Sociology Working Paper Series, 1. Retrieved from: https://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1048216/FULLTEXT02.pdf.

Ylikoski, P. K. (2017). Social Mechanisms. In: S. Glennan, P. Illari (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Mechanisms and Mechanical Philosophy (pp. 401–412). New York: Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315731544-30