Abstract
As a prelude to the rest of the book, this chapter examines what morphogenesis has so far meant in sociological theory. So far, morphogenesis has been explained as a meta-theoretical rather than a theoretical concept. As such, morphogenesis does not directly explain anything. Instead, it constitutes the ineluctable framework for any theoretically effective explanation of social change. Accordingly, this chapter shows (i) how the morphogenetic approach underlies a variety of different explanations of social change and (ii) how those sociological approaches that eschew the morphogenetic approach consequently fail to account effectively for social change. The chapter ends with some questions as Archer now speculates about morphogenesis as not just a meta-theoretical concept but as also a specific societal category at the level of theory.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Althusser L (2009) Reading capital. Verso, New York
Althusser L (2010) For Marx. Verso, New York
Anderson P (1980) Arguments within English Marxism. Verso, London
Archer MS (1982) Morphogenesis versus structuration: on combining structure and action. Br J Sociol 33(4):455–483
Archer MS (1988) Culture and agency: the place of culture in social theory. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Archer MS (1995) Realist social theory: the morphogenetic approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Archer MS (2007) Making our way through the world: human reflexivity and social mobility. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Bourdieu P (1993) The field of cultural production. Columbia University Press, New York
Davies B, Harré R (1990) Positioning and the discursive production of selves. J Theor Soc Behav 20(1):43–63
Foster JB, Magdoff F (2009) The great financial disaster: causes and consequences. Monthly Review Press, New York
Foucault M (2008) On the archaeology of the sciences: response to the epistemological circle. In: Faubion JD (ed) Aesthetics, method and epistemology: essential works of Foucault 1954–1984. New Press, New York, pp 297–334
Friedland R, Mohr J (2004) The cultural turn in American sociology. In: Friedland R, Mohr J (eds.) Matters of culture: cultural sociology in practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Giddens A (1979) Central problems in social theory. University of California Press, Berkeley
Giddens A (1981) A contemporary critique of historical materialism. University of California Press, Berkeley
Giddens A (1984) The constitution of society. University of California Press, Berkeley
Giddens A (1991) The consequences of modernity. Stanford University Press, Stanford
Harré R (2009) Saving critical realism. J Theor Soc Behav 39(2): 129–143. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.14685914.2009.00403.x/abstract;jsessionid=C1D3D50DDD35952388A296F7B7E4FF62.d04t03?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=
Jessop B (2006) Beyond the regulation approach: putting capitalist economies in their place. Edward Elgar, London
Joas H (1997) The creativity of action. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Kuhn T (1996) The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Lim M, Lim C (2010) Nowhere to hide: the great financial crisis and consequences for Asia. Institute for Southeast Asian Studies, Kuala Lumpur
Marx K (2000) The eighteenth brumaire of Louis Bonaparte. In: McClellan D (ed) Karl Marx: selected writings. Oxford, New York
Porpora D (1983) On the prospects for a nomothetic theory of social structure. J Theor Soc Behav (Special Issue) 13:243–264
Porpora D (1985) The role of agency in history: the Althusser-Thompson-Anderson debate. In: McNall S (ed.) Current perspectives in social theory, vol 6. JAI Press, Greenwich
Porpora D (1987) The concept of social structure. Greenwood Press, New Haven
Porpora D (1989) Four concepts of social structure. J Theor Soc Behav 19:195–212
Porpora D (1993) Cultural rules and material relations. Sociol Theory 11:212–229
Porpora D (2011) Critical terrorism studies: a political economic approach grounded in critical realism. Crit Stud Terrorism 4(1):39–56
Rostow E (1991) The stages of growth: a non-communist manifesto. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Sewell W (1992) A theory of structure: duality, agency, and transformation. Am J Sociol 98:1–29
Small ML, Harding DJ, Lamont M (2010) Reconsidering culture and poverty. Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 629(6):6–27
Thompson EP (1978) The poverty of theory and other essays. Monthly Review Press, New York
Urry J (2003) Global complexity. Polity, London
Weber M (2002) The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Penguin, New York
Wilson WJ (2010) Why both social structure and culture matter in a holistic analysis of inner-city poverty. Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 629:200–219
Winch P (1958) The idea of a social science and its relation to philosophy. Routledge, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Porpora, D.V. (2013). Morphogenesis and Social Change. In: Archer, M. (eds) Social Morphogenesis. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6128-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6128-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6127-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6128-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)