Discussion: Reflections on Reductionism

Abstract

AbstractIn classical sociology, society was portrayed at first by means of the anatomical or biological metaphors of the natural sciences. It was amid more sweeping social changes that the concept of articulation shifted from the ‘limbs of the social system’ metaphor toward a discursive practice that brings forth and organises signifying elements with emphasis on human action. One larger motion showcased by the waning of the idea of an articulated whole, which Marx’s notion of Gliederung described decades ago, is an integral shift from social structure to social and political actors and their networks. More recently, ‘articulation’ has been conceptualised as a discursive practice in line with the discursive turn whereby social scientists have come to view the identity of discrete elements as contingent on individuals’ actions and specific changes wrought by means of articulatory practices in an open discursive field of action. On the one hand, the concept of articulation is a sign of a break that can lead to reductionism wherein society becomes a discussion about society. On the other hand, it expands a discursive field wherein struggles for hegemony hinge on political articulations.