Social Relativity: The Motion of Groups and Actors
| Autor: | Charles J. Dudley, Ezra Brown |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1981 |
| Předmět: |
Sociological theory
Sociology and Political Science 05 social sciences Social change Analogy Complementarity (physics) Solidarity 0506 political science Epistemology Theory of relativity 050903 gender studies Social system Principle of relativity 050602 political science & public administration Sociology 0509 other social sciences |
| Zdroj: | The Sociological Quarterly. 22:313-326 |
| ISSN: | 1533-8525 0038-0253 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/j.1533-8525.1981.tb00664.x |
| Popis: | The bulk of sociological theory is based on a notion of "state": mechanical-organic solidarity, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, folk-urban, and so forth. We propose a theory that social systems consist of actors and groups in constant motion. Further, we propose that the duality of actor and society generate a system that can be understood by using the concepts of complementarity, indeterminacy and the principle of relativity. Such a system is defined and the issue of social change is addressed. Basically, change is defined as an alteration in the motion of actors relative to the motion of groups. As the number of groups increases relative to the number of actors, the velocity of actors increases and the velocity of groups decreases. The increasing disThe purpose of this paper is to present, in broad outline, a theory of the motion of actor and society. To do this, we have had to consider the principle of relativity, which was founded in physics. Lest one accuse us of the use of a simple analogy drawn from another discipline, we note that the general principle of relativity is widely used in such areas as art, music, drama and psychology, as well as in the physical sciences (Lemert, 1974). In sociology, Mead (1932), among others, spoke of the importance of the principle of relativity. Moreover, many of the theoretical concepts used in this paper are drawn from sociology, not physics. As our critics have observed, we cannot complete a general theory of society in a short paper. Our purpose here is to propose a different and more fruitful form of general theory. If by fruitful we mean that it deals with the explicit dynamics of actor and society, then there is little in sociology to guide us. Most theories are static and ignore the study of the motion of actors and groups. Theories of social change in |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|
Plný text