Social causation: between social constructionism and critical realism
Abstract
This paper takes a middle position on the ongoing debate in social theory between social constructionists and critical realists. Both accept that social structures are symbolically constructed and that they are real. They differ however on how they conceptualise the impact that structures have on social practices. Against social constructionists 1 argue that not only actors but also structures have causa! powers. Against critical realists I argue that the causal powers of actors are different from those of structures; and that in order to understand how the two causalities relate to each other one has to focus on processes of intra- and inter-action.
Article Details
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Mouzelis, N. (2015). Social causation: between social constructionism and critical realism. Science and Society: Journal of Political and Moral Theory, 17, 307–332. https://doi.org/10.12681/sas.508
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