Esse sequitur operari, Or the New Turn of Contemporary Sociological Theory: Bourdieu, Archer, Luhmann.

Abstract

The article argues that in contemporary sociological theory it is possible to recognize a set of operational theories for which the generative mechanism of the social lies at the center of their theoretical architecture. For these theories, the concept of operation plays a pivotal role in describing the emergence of society, while the concept of structure functions asa limitative, reflexive device that informs the operation about the contingent possibilities of social dynamics. The article contends that Pierre Bourdieu’s logic of practice, Margaret Archer’s temporal dislocation between agency and structure as well as the intermediary role of interaction, and Niklas Luhmann’s concept of communication as a threefold selection event represent alternative options in operatively explaining social emergence. Conclusions examine the features of operational theories with a view to drawing the theoretical consequences for basic concepts of social sciences such as time, space, the distinction micro/macro, and the position of norms in sociological theorizing.