Switchings under uncertainty: The coming and becoming of meanings

Godart, Frédéric; White, Harrison C.

doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2010.09.003

Cited by 134 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In and around the 2008 edition, White occasionally terms social micro-events 'interaction' without a clear conceptualization and without reference to the interactionist tradition. In 1995, White introduced the notion of 'switchings' (1995b, Godart and White 2010). Switching entails the move of an identity from one network context to another or the changing of domains in conversation.…”

Section: Ja Fuhsementioning

confidence: 99%

Theorizing social networks: the relational sociology of and around Harrison White

Fuhse

2015

International Review of Sociology

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This paper offers an overview of relational sociology as developed by and around Harrison White. Relational sociology provides a substantial account of social networks, conceptualizing them as real social structures interwoven with meaning. Forms of meaning connected to network configurations (as part of their 'domains') include stories, identities, social categories (including role categories), and institutions. Recent advances lead to a network perspective on culture, and to an emphasis on communicative events in networks. In contrast to other strands of relational sociology, the approach aims at a close connection between empirical research and theoretical reflection. Theoretical concepts and arguments are geared at empirical applicability in network research, rather than mainly providing a theoretical description of the social world. Finally, the author's own version of relational sociology is sketched: social networks are seen as dynamic constructions of relational expectations. These emerge and develop over the course of communication (in the sense of Niklas Luhmann), in turn effectively channeling communicative sequence.

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Section: Ja Fuhsementioning

confidence: 99%

Theorizing social networks: the relational sociology of and around Harrison White

Fuhse

2015

International Review of Sociology

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“…Fortifying is the use of capability-based resources (skills, dispositions, and cognitive orientations) for expressive purposes (with the intent to legitimize and consolidate an actor's existing structural position). Examples of Fortifying include deployment of a novel kind of 'style,' or manner of perpetuating and diffusing stories, to affirm identities and relationships (Godart and White, 2010;White, 1992White, , 2008; use of emotional intelligence to build and sustain affective relations (see, for example, Lopes et al, 2004); and use of cognitive and motivational attributes to form energizing relationships in 13 organizational settings (Baker et al, 2003). Structure constrains Fortifying primarily via actionthat is, structure can limit actors' repertoires for making consolidating or legitimizing moves.…”

Section: Fortifying: Marshaling Capability-based Resources To Achievementioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing Agency Back into Network Research: Constrained Agency and Network Action

Gulati¹,

Srivastava²

2014

Research in the Sociology of Organizations

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This article enriches the conception of agency that prevails in network research by proposing a framework of constrained agency. Our framework is grounded in the resources and motivations that actors draw on within their structurally constrained context. Structural positions influence the resources available to actors and color the motivations that shape their actions. At the same time resources equip actors to exert agency while motivations propel them to do so. Examining how specific resources are used when particular motivations are operative reveals ideal types of constrained agency. Within the wide range of actions that constrained agency can encompass, we focus on network action. We derive a typology of network actions and illustrate how the form of constrained agency through which a particular network action is taken can affect actors' ensuing structural positions and the nature of the constraints they subsequently face. We conclude by discussing how this conceptualization of constrained agency can help identify new sources of endogenous change in network structure and can serve as a guide for future empirical research.3

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“…Stories create and transmit meaning; they 'are told to oneself and shared with others about the immediacy of events, actions and agents that are known, witnessed and participated in.' 32 Stories make networks explicit: as White notes 'anything about which you tell a story can get reflected in a 26 GODART -WHITE (2010) ' (p.114). 'Styles can be thought of as a fundamental specification of how individual agents live their lives through an ongoing process of combining understandings of situations with sets of practices arrayed across lives embedded within social networks (netdoms)' (MOHR - , p. 491).…”

Section: A Brief Overview Of a 'Social Network Theory'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The need to consider the 'mesh of interrelations' is discussed in , p. 546, as part of an analysis of Niklas Luhman's work and its relation to White's social network theory. GODART -WHITE (2010) describes the ways in which stories and meaning are related.…”

Section: A Brief Overview Of a 'Social Network Theory'mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Networks and Narratives: A Model for Ancient Greek Religion*

Eidinow¹

2011

kernos

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Polis religion has become the dominant model for the description of ritual activity in ancient Greek communities. Indeed, scholars have invoked polis religion to try to resolve the much-debated question of the definition of magic vs. religion, arguing that particular 'magical' practices, and their practitioners, do not belong to 'collective polis religion.' However, the relationship to polis religion of a 'magical' practice such as the writing of binding spells is surely more ambiguous, as well as of other cult activity relating (in various ways) to the worship of Dionysos. Further examination suggests that defining what it means for ritual activity to be integrated within the schema of polis religion becomes increasingly difficult as we examine the variety of cult organisations and the different levels and types of involvement by the polis. This paper argues that social network theory may be able to overcome these conceptual difficulties. This approach can offer an alternative, more fluid construction of ancient Greek religion, which allows us to take account of coexisting, sometimes overlapping, networks of ritual activities.Résumé : La polis religion est devenue le modèle dominant pour décrire l'activité rituelle des communautés de la Grèce antique. En fait, les chercheurs ont invoqué cette notion pour tenter de résoudre la question très débattue de la définition de la « magie » en regard de la « religion », en assumant que les pratiques magiques et leurs acteurs n'appartenaient pas à la religion collective de la polis. Néanmois, la relation entre polis religion et pratique « magique » comme l'écriture de defixiones, est certainement plus complexe, tout autant que d'autres activités cultuelles, comme celles qui relèvent du culte de Dionysos, et ce de diverses manières. Un examen approfondi montre qu'il devient difficile de définir ce que cela suppose, pour une activité rituelle, d'être intégrée au schéma de la polis religion quand on analyse la variété des organisations cultuelles et les différents niveaux et types d'implication de la polis. Cet article montre que la social network theory permet de dépasser ces difficultés conceptuelles. Une telle approche offre une construction alternative, plus fluide, de la religion grecque antique, en permettant de prendre en compte des réseaux d'activités rituelles qui coexistent et se recouvrent parfois.

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Switchings under uncertainty: The coming and becoming of meanings

Cited by 134 publications

References 38 publications

Theorizing social networks: the relational sociology of and around Harrison White

Theorizing social networks: the relational sociology of and around Harrison White

Bringing Agency Back into Network Research: Constrained Agency and Network Action

Networks and Narratives: A Model for Ancient Greek Religion*

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