Alain Touraine's Sociology of the Subject

This paper explores the genesis of the sociology of the subject in the work of Alain Touraine, and considers the extent it allows us to explore contemporary forms of action and culture, both dominant reshapings of social life, as well as action seeking to name and contest forms of power and creativity.  This paper considers the extent that Touraine's sociology of the subject allows us to explore dimensions of action such as displacement, vulnerability and precarity, and its place within a renewed sociology of social movements and collective action.