XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

636

Relational Sociology: What Are 'relations' and Why Does It Matter to Study Relations?

RC35 Conceptual and Terminological Analysis (host committee)

Language: French and English

Relational sociology is a growing and diversified approach since the publication of the 'Manifesto for a Relational Sociology' by M. Emirbayer in 1997. It has been connected to classical and contemporary social thinkers and philosophers such as Simmel, Mauss, Bourdieu, Bashkar, Deleuze, Elias, White, Luhmann, Latour, Tarde and Whitehead. It has been used to study various social dynamics or issues – e.g. violence, agency, social movements, social inequalities, health, education and many others. Furthermore, there is an ongoing relational 'turn' in other disciplines such as psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, international relations, environmental studies and archeology. In sum, there is little doubt this approach is becoming a very important one in contemporary sociology. In this session, we would like to invite papers discussing the quality and the relevance of this relational ‘turn’ in sociology. How or why is it better to adopt a relational approach to study social phenomena? Is there anything specific or distinct here? What are 'relations' in relational sociology? What does it mean to say that societies (or any other social phenomena) are 'relations'? Empirical research and theoretical discussions are welcome from sociology and compatible disciplines.