Description
Book SynopsisConcepts in Action provides us with examples of the active and creative use of concepts for constructing and generating new knowledge. Examples of theoretic constructions and topics discussed refers to the function of theory in mainstream sociology; concepts enabling us to expand the range of interpretations; a critical view and approach to general concepts of culture, nature and consumption; concepts dealing with organization, institutions and actors; and examples of travelling concepts such as class, gender, race and social recognition.
Table of ContentsPreface
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
1 Conceptual Constructionism: An Introduction
Peter Sohlberg and Håkon Leiulfsrud
2 On the Near Disappearance of Concepts in Mainstream Sociology
Richard Swedberg
Part 1: Methodological Programs and Applications
3 What Do We Do with Norms—Conform, Break, Understand or Explain?
Peter Sohlberg
4 Colligation
Richard Swedberg
5 Sensitizing Concepts in Action: Expanding the Framework
Anne Britt Flemmen
Part 2: Culture, Nature and Consumption
6 Culture as a Sociological Concept
Willy Martinussen
7 Bringing Nature Back In
Willy Guneriussen
8 The Study of Consumption in Sociology—Beyond Utility Theory
Pål Strandbakken
Part 3: Social Structure, Organizations and Institutions
9 Social Structure
John Scott
10 The Organization of Action
Göran Ahrne
11 About Actors: An Institutional Perspective
Raimund Hasse
12 The Family and Interwoven Concepts
Håkon Leiulfsrud
13 Collective Action: Why is it so Difficult for the Social Sciences to Grasp the Rational Aspects of Collective Action?
Roar Hagen
Part 4: Class, Gender, Race and Social Recognition
14 The Status of the Political in the Concept of Class Structure
Erik Olin Wright
15 Gender as Analytic, Political and Interdisciplinary Concept
Harriet Bjerrum Nielsen
16 Race: A Contested and Travelling Concept
Mette Andersson
17 Recognition: Conceptualization and Context
Antje Gimmler
Index
