Palgrave Studies in Relational Sociology New Directions Sociology, Volume One

This edited volume contains contributions from scholars from all over the world that outline their version of relational sociology, situate it within the relational landscape and indicate how it might contribute to the development of a relational paradigm. "For contemporary sociologists, the insight that social life is based on dynamic relationships rather than on static entities is of utmost importance. However, the contours of relational sociology still are very fuzzy in the debate. Vandenberghe and Papilloud have put together a cutting edge volume that provides readers with a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art. But much more than that, the book also opens up a wealth of new routes to be taken in future research from ontology to epistemology and moral theory! As such, it will be an indispensable read for everyone interested in new directions for social theory."—Hartmut Rosa, Professor of Sociology, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena and Director of Max Weber Kolleg, University of Erfurt, Germany "With the publication of this important volume of essays, relational thinking in sociology is pushed in promising new directions. The papers included here are original, ambitious, thought-provoking, and generative. One finds fresh and creative insights on virtually every page. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the relational turn in sociological theorizing and research." —Mustafa Emirbayer, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA New Directions in Relational Sociology explores the concept of relation as a dynamic and interconnected process. Bringing together major authors in relational sociology, it guides readers through key discussions and debates on how relations function as complex networks that shape our experiences, practices, and destinies. The book examines diverse conceptions of relationality, offering a comprehensive understanding of its evolution and role in organizing the social world. Challenging traditional notions of relationality and human exchange, it rethinks how relational processes contribute to the becoming of society. Frédéric Vandenberghe is Professor of Sociology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a Bucerius fellow at the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Study (HIAS), Germany. Christian Papilloud is Professor in Sociological Theory at the Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. This edited volume contains contributions from scholars from all over the world that outline their version of relational sociology, situate it within the relational landscape and indicate how it might contribute to the development of a relational paradigm. This book’s aim is to open a variety of perspectives on relational sociology and to bring them into a fruitful, frictional dialogue. These chapters draw on the canonical authors of the relational turn, present relational perspectives in the neighbouring disciplines, integrate divergent approaches, solve important conceptual problems, articulate the relations between the core concepts of relational sociology, and apply the relational perspective to subfields of sociology. The first part of the book—"Sociology as Friendly Society”—is dedicated to François Dépelteau in memoriam and contains excerpts from an unfinished manuscript. The second section discusses the idea of a paradigm of relational sociology, balancing affirmative with more critical stances. The third part contains texts about social attachments, interactions and relations by authors wo adopt a Durkheimian perspective. The fourth part extends these concerns with primary sociability from the micro- to the macro-level of politics.