Social Morphogenesis

244 Pages·2013·3.063 MB·English

by  Margaret S. Archer (editor)

Social Morphogenesis
Margaret S. Archer Editor
Late
Modernity
Trajectories towards
Morphogenic Society
Late Modernity
Social Morphogenesis
SeriesEditor:
MARGARETS.ARCHER
EPFLEcolePolytechniqueFédéraledeLausanne,Switzerland
Aimsandscope:
To focus upon ‘social morphogenesis’ as a general process of change is very different
fromexaminingitsparticularresultsoverthelastquarterofacentury.Thisseriesventures
whatthegenerativemechanismsarethatproducesuchrapidchangeanddiscusseshowthis
differs from late modernity. Contributors examine if an intensification of morphogenesis
(positive feedback that results in a change in social form) and a corresponding reduction
inmorphostasis(negativefeedbackthatrestoresorreproducestheformofthesocialorder)
bestcapturestheprocessinvolved.
The seriesconsists of 5 volumes derived from theCentre for Social Ontology’s annual
workshops “FromModernity toMorphogenesis” attheUniversityof Lausanne, headed by
MargaretArcher.
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/11959
Margaret S. Archer
Editor
Late Modernity
Trajectories towards Morphogenic Society
123
Editor
MargaretS.Archer
EcolePolytechniqueFédéraledeLausanne
Lausanne,Switzerland
This volume II follows the book “Social Morphogenesis”, edited by Margaret S. Archer,
whichwasthefirstbookinaseriespublishedin2013.
http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/book/978-94-007-6127-8
ISSN2198-1604 ISSN2198-1612(electronic)
ISBN978-3-319-03265-8 ISBN978-3-319-03266-5(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-03266-5
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014930984
©SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2014
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Preface
Everyyearthisgroupof collaboratorsmeetsfora week’sWorkshopin Lausanne.
Eachtimeweexamineaparticularaspectoftheoverallproject:‘FromModernityto
MorphogenicSociety?’,whichis generouslysupportedbythe IndependentSocial
Research Foundation as is the Centre d’Ontologie Sociale in its activities. We
are extremely grateful to the ISRF because long-term funding allows us to work
systematicallyonthistheme.
Thequestionmarkisthemostimportantpartofthisproject.Insteadofrushingto
proclaimtheadventofanewsocialformationassomanyhavedone,wecanproceed
moreslowlyandexaminethevarioustheoreticalandsubstantiveissuesinvolvedin
societaltransformation.Thus,weareexploringratherthanendorsingthetransition
fromModernitytoMorphogenicsociety.Whetherornotweconcludeinfavourof
thispropositionwilldependupontheoutcomeofourexchangesoverthefollowing
3years.
Because this is our preferred method of working, we are also very grateful to
ourpublisher,Springer,whose editorssupportour rationaleandhave devotedthis
closedseriesofbookstoourcollectivedevelopmentoftheseideas.
Each annual volume is intended to be self-contained as far as the reader is
concerned,althoughwehopethatreaderswillbecomeinterestedinhowourinternal
discussionsanddebatesunfold.
Thus, the first volume Social Morphogenesis (2013) was broadly concerned
withdifferentiatingthe‘morphogeneticapproach’asaframeworkforanalysingthe
processesofsocialchangefrom‘MorphogenicSociety’asapossibleoutcome–a
newglobalsocialformation.
In this volume, we take stock of Late Modernity and its potential trajectories.
Subsequentcollectivevolumeswillexaminefurthercentralissues: the‘generative
mechanisms’ at work today, not all which steer the social order in the same
direction; the problem of normative fragmentation and the increasing deficit in
social integration at a time of rapid and radical morphogenesis; and the most
important question of all, in what ways could a potential Morphogenic Society
constitutea‘goodsociety’.
v
vi Preface
Thanks are due, above all, to the ‘Group of Ten’ collaborators, coming from
variedtheoreticalbackgrounds,whohaveengagedsoproductivelytogether.
Maxilly-sur-Léman,France MargaretS.Archer
July2013
Contents
1 Introduction:‘Stability’or‘Stabilization’–OnWhich
WouldMorphogenicSocietyDepend? ................................... 1
MargaretS.Archer
2 A Speeding Upofthe RateofSocialChange?Power,
Technology,Resistance,GlobalisationandtheGoodSociety.......... 21
TonyLawson
3 The Emergent Social Qualities of a ‘Morphogenic’
Society:Cultures,Structures,andFormsofReflexivity ............... 49
AndreaMaccarini
4 ContemporaryMechanismsofSocialChange .......................... 77
DouglasV.Porpora
5 TheGenerativeMechanismRe-configuringLateModernity.......... 93
MargaretS.Archer
6 Onthe Validityof Describing ‘MorphogenicSociety’
as a System and Justifiability of Thinking About
ItasaSocialFormation.................................................... 119
WolfgangHofkirchner
7 MorphogenicSocietyandtheStructureofSocialRelations........... 143
PierpaoloDonati
8 ‘Morphogenesis Unbound’ from the Dynamics
ofMultilevelNetworks:ANeo-structuralPerspective................. 173
EmmanuelLazega
vii
viii Contents
9 MorphogenesisandNormativity:ProblemstheFormer
CreatesfortheLatter...................................................... 193
IsmaëlAl-Amoudi
10 MorphogenesisandCooperationin the International
PoliticalSystem............................................................. 221
ColinWight
Contributors
IsmaëlAl-Amoudi CardiffBusinessSchool,UniversityofCardiff,Cardiff,United
Kingdom
Margaret S. Archer Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne,
Switzerland
Pierpaolo Donati Department of Sociology and Business Law, Università degli
StudidiBologna,Bologna,Italy
Wolfgang Hofkirchner Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science,
Vienna,Austria
TonyLawson FacultyofEconomics,UniversityofCambridge,Cambridge,UK
Emmanuel Lazega Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po),
DépartementdeSociologie,CentredeSociologiedesOrganisations,Paris,France
Andrea Maccarini Department of Sociology, Università degli Studi di Padova,
Padova,Italy
Douglas V. Porpora Department of Culture and Communications, Drexel
University,Philadelphia,PA,USA
Colin Wight Department of Governmentand International Relations, University
ofSydney,Darlington,NSW,Australia
ix