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What sociologists actually do and what social theorists think they should do
There’s a great post on Daniel Little’s blog which uses a critique of analytical sociology and critical realism to explore a premise which he argues they both share: ontology dictates methodology. As...
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Getting inside people’s frames: reflexivity and cultural sociology
In recent months I’ve been slowly working through some of Jeffrey Alexander’s work. I’m interested in what cultural sociology has to offer as I begin to try and extend my PhD research on internal...
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Some thoughts on microfoundations and methodological individualism
The notion of microfoundations emerged from within Marxist theory as a claim that “macro explanations of social phenomena must be supported by an account of the mechanisms at the individual level...
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Actor centred sociology
In the last couple of years, I’ve occasionally wondered whether I’m a methodological individualist. The term carries intensely negative connotations within the areas of sociology in which I spend my...
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The intellectual legitimacy of academic blogging
One of my favourite academic blogs is Understanding Society. Written by the philosopher Daniel Little, it covers a diverse range of topics across the social sciences while continually coming back to a...
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Treating ideas with seriousness: @DLittle30 on social media and scholarship
I recently interviewed Daniel Little, author of Understanding Society, as part of the research feeding into Social Media for Academics. Here are some extracts from an extremely thought provoking...
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research blogs as monuments to treating ideas seriously
Another excellent annual reflection from Daniel Little on the eighth birthday of Understanding Society. It’s one of my favourite academic blogs and certainly my favourite theory blog: This week marks...
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digital data and ‘the utopia of total social legibility’
The argument Daniel Little is making here is an increasingly familiar one, but I’ve rarely encountered such a lucid formulation of it: Can we similarly “map” the spread of new political ideas and...
View ArticleUsing social media as a social theorist
In the new year, I’ll be giving a talk at the Arctic University of Norway on using social media as a social theorist. This post is an initial attempt to get my thoughts on paper before the break, in...
View ArticleWhat will it mean when blogs are decades old?
Reading the philosopher Daniel Little’s reflection on eleven years of Understanding Society, I found myself wondering how blogging will be seen when we are surrounded by personal blogs which are...
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