Processual Sociology

Norbert Elias (1897-1990) developed a particular sociological perspective, which has come to be known as ‘figurational sociology’, or, as it is sometimes called, process sociology. Figurational sociology offers a synthesis of classical and modern sociology. According to this sociological perspective, individuals are interdependent with each other; they form figurations, and also, they are shaped by continuously changing figurations.
The main aim of this article is to introduce Norbert Elias’ sociology through his concepts, methods and principles. The first part of the study gives information about Elias’ personal and academic life. Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel, Sombart, Veblen, Mannheim and Freud occupy a central place in Elias’ sociology.
The second part attempts to clarify the meaning of figuration in Eliasian sociology. The concept of figuration, which has been widely used by Elias since the 1960s, points out the nature and the extent of the interdependencies that change constantly over time. It is an analytical concept that emphasizes interdependency between individual and society. It describes changing human networks and long-term processes in which people are interrelated to each other.
According to Elias, individuals cannot be imagined without their societies and societies without their individuals. Defined by networks of small groups and large societies by people who are interdependent to each other, figurations are characterized as constantly changing and fluid balance of power. Elias developed the concept of figuration in order to eliminate the accepted dualist approaches in sociology such as structure / actor, individual / society, subjectivity / objectivity, and to show that individuals are always connected with each other through direct or indirect ways.
For Elias, the difference of the concept of figuration from the concept of the system is that figuration concept does not create an inherent expectation of harmony. In this sense, figuration is a neutral concept. It can address tense and hostile relations between people as well as harmonious, peaceful and friendly relationship between people. According to Elias, the concept of figuration is functional in sociology when it addresses the problem of interdependence among individuals, groups and societies.
The third part of this article discusses the basic assumptions and methodology of figurational sociology. The chief characteristics of figurational sociology is its focus on relations and processes. It gives emphasis to the significance of long-term processes, although it does not correspondingly ignore the short-term processes. The main aim of figurational sociology is to demonstrate the functional interdependence of people who come together at a multi-layered level during the unplanned social processes that they create with each other.
One of the originalities of figurational sociology comes from its focus on relationships rather than situations. Elias prefers to examine the relationships between individuals and social phenomena not solely through power relations between individuals, groups or institutions, but through the ever-changing power balances. In order to examine social structure and social relations, figurational sociology adopts a long-term historical research methodology. The third part of the article also focuses on the differences of figurational sociology from other sociological approaches. Elias opposes both the structural-functional and methodological-individualist paradigms in sociological theory and presents a new unique paradigm in terms of sociological thinking.
In the last part, this study presents the conceptual tools frequently used by figurational sociology such as the balance of cooperation and competition; balance of external social control and self-control; balance of power; the balance of formalization and informalization; We / I balance between established and outsider groups (We / They); the balance of involvement and detachment.
The balance of cooperation and competition is a useful analytical tool in order to determine the levels of social and global interdependencies as well as the levels of differentiations. Different levels of development can be determined by the balance of social control and self-control. The balance between external control and self-discipline has gradually shifted towards the latter with the monopolization of physical force by the nation-state. The balance of power is a helpful tool for figurational sociology in order to analyze power ratios between different social classes, sexes and generations. The balance of formalization and informalization helps to analyze shifting patterns of emotion management. The We–I balance helps to demonstrate the dynamic configurations of self-awareness within a changing society. Correspondingly, the state formation processes give direction to the We-I balance of individuals. We / I balance between established and outsider groups (We / They) is a conceptual tool for explaining diverse interdependencies between various groups, which may trigger conflicts and tensions. The balance of involvement and detachment demonstrates how increase level of knowledge of nature produces a greater detachment from their affective involvement of fearful fantasies.

This paper explores some of the ways Bourdieusian theory is reinvigorating historical sociology. The first section reconstructs Bourdieu’s increasingly serious engagement over the course of his career with historians and historical material. It argues that Bourdieu generated and encouraged among his students a unique approach to historical sociology. The second section argues that the historical turn in Bourdieu’s work is firmly grounded in the fundamentally historicity of his two key theoretical concepts, habitus and field. The third section sketches an agenda for future work in historical sociology based on Bourdieu’s mature theory. The final section surveys recent social research using Bourdieusian field theory, arguing that this constitutes an unacknowledged and growing tendency within historical sociology.

A sociologia histórica aborda processos de mudança e continuidade sociais  e revela a arbitrariedade de  muitos arranjos sociais. Os clássicos da  sociologia focalizavam processos de mudança social  e abordagens históricas predominavam na  sociologia alemã  entre  as guerras, mas só reemergiram com força a partir das décadas de 1960 e 1970 nos Estados Unidos, onde  a nova  sociologia histórica focalizava estruturas po- líticas e econômicas. A partir da década de 1980, a área dialoga  com abordagens en- fatizando a construção social  das identidades, as subjetividades e as representações coletivas, como a história oral, o feminismo ou os estudos pós-coloniais. Atualmente, este  subcampo resiste ao reducionismo e prioriza a análise processual de  atores  e eventos, além  das interações de processos sociais  distintas. Novas fronteiras na área incluem relações entre  reprodução e mudança social,  relações entre  processos indi- viduais e institucionais e o papel da  narrativa na  repre...

Livro contendo texto de Norbert Elias versando sobre a relação de poder entre os sexos.
Primeira publicação em inglês em Theory, Culture & Society, 4: 2-3 (1987): 287-316. Título original: The changing balance of power between the sexes – a process-sociological study: the example of the ancient Roman state .
Tradução para o português realizada por Ana Flávia Braun Vieira.

Este trabajo resalta la relevancia de las corrientes sociológicas vinculadas a la pragmática norteamericana en el debate sociológico contemporáneo. Particularmente se centra en la influencia que tiene el pragmatismo en la teoría de la creatividad, la sociología procesual y la pragmática cultural; perspectivas que muestran cómo los actores construyen el orden social a partir de la resolución creativa de problemas, situaciones y escenificaciones simbólicas. Estas teorías abrevan del valor que el pragmatismo da a la agencia de los actores, más allá de su capacidad de elección racional o de las externalidades constrictivas de la estructura. Introducen, así, una mirada renovada al problema clásico de la acción, el orden y el cambio social en unas ciencias sociales caracterizadas hoy en día por la sobreestimación de los procesos despersonalizados de las dinámicas sociales o el despliegue de cálculos estratégicos.

https://journals.openedition.org/sdt/853

Résumé
Dans les travaux sociologiques problématisant la pauvreté comme une relation d’assistance, il est courant d’analyser les aidants et/ou les aidés. Il est plus rare d’observer leur interdépendance, en considérant de manière systématique les pratiques par lesquelles chacun tient compte des effets de son action sur l’autre — autrement dit, en considérant leur (plus ou moins grande) réflexivité au cours de la relation d’aide. La perspective philosophique du care invitant à problématiser la réception de l’aide, une sociologie de la réflexivité conduit à observer dans quelle mesure les aidants ajustent l’aide au gré de ses réceptions par les aidés. Cet ajustement varie selon la légitimité et le temps accordés à cette réception par les dispositifs d’assistance. Le cas de l’urgence sociale, destinée aux personnes sans abri définies comme des victimes en détresse, est à ce titre intéressant, en ce que l’ajustement de l’aide y est a priori très faible : les sans-abri sont considérés comme peu lucides sur leur état et comme devant être secourus de façon ponctuelle. Pour décrire les formes diverses de réflexivité observables dans les pratiques d’aide aux sans-abri à Paris entre 2005 et 2015, nous combinons méthode idéale-typique et démarche ethnographique pour éclairer des pratiques d’ajustement inattendues dans une relation d’urgence. Cet article caractérise plus généralement le temps de l’aide comme une épreuve de synchronisation entre production et réception de l’aide.

Mots-clés : Care, Réception, Temporalités, Urgence sociale, Réflexivité, Synchronisation


Abstract
In sociological works dealing with the issue of poverty as a relationship of assistance, it is common to analyse the caregivers and/or the care-recipients. It is much more unusual to explore how these actors experience their interdependence, by systematically considering how their practice reflects the effects they have on each other, i.e. by examining the degree of reflectiveness on either side of the care relationship. From the philosophical perspective of care, which prompts consideration of how assistance is received, a reflective care-giver adjusts the help provided to the recipient’s experience of care. This adjustment varies according to the legitimacy of the case and the time allocated by the welfare systems to this experience. The case of acute social need, addressed to homeless people identified as victims in distress, is relevant from this analytical perspective. Indeed, the asymmetry in this welfare relationship is in principle very great. To describe the multiple practices of care in Paris between 2005 and 2015, we combine the ideal-type method and the ethnographic approach to highlight unexpected practices of symmetrisation in the care relationship in acute situations. More broadly, this article analyses the period of support as a test of synchronisation between care-givers and care-recipients.

Keywords: Care, Care-receiving, Temporalities, Social Emergency, Reflexivity, Synchronisation