Conceptual foundations for the development of J.G.Turner’s general sociological theory: metatheoretical ideas, basic concepts and analytical scheme

Abstract

The article discusses the conceptual foundations of the development of the general sociological theory of J.G. Turner. In this case, foundations should be understood as metatheoretical ideas formulated by the researcher, basic concepts, and the analytical scheme itself. Turner began to develop a general sociological theory with a synthesis of metatheoretical ideas of social forces and social selection. He formulated a synthetic metatheoretical statement, according to which there are certain social forces that exert pressure on the choice of individuals and force them to change the models of their social organization and create new types of socio-cultural entities, which is designed to ensure survival under conditions of this kind of pressure. Starting to systematize the basic concepts of his theorizing, Turner proceeded from the rationale for the differentiation of micro-, mezo- and macro-levels of social reality. Such an approach made it possible to build a substantiation of a simple conceptual scheme of social dynamics based on these principles. According to this scheme, it becomes clear how the forces of macro-social dynamics of the population, production, distribution, regulation and reproduction cause social evolution. Thus, Turner showed how these forces force individual and corporate actors to structurally adapt their communities in changing circumstances. Such adaptation helps to overcome or avoid the disintegration consequences of these forces. The initial stage of Turner's general theorizing is a kind of audit, modification, modernization and systematization of the conceptual apparatus of sociology. The initial results obtained by the scientist became the basis for the development of Turner's concept of the dynamics of functional selection in the social world.