Engaging with several emerging and interconnected approaches in the social sciences, including pragmatism, system theory, processual thinking and relational thinking, this book leverages John Dewey and Arthur Bentley's often misunderstood concept of trans-action to revisit and redefine our perceptions of social relations and social life. The contributors gathered here use trans-action in a more specific sense, showing why and how social scientists and philosophers might use the concept to better understand our social life and social problems. As the first collective sociological attempt to apply the concept of trans-action to contemporary social issues, this volume is a key reference for the growing audience of relational and processual thinkers in the social sciences and beyond.

Focuses on the highly promising but often sociologically misunderstood concept of trans-action, as established by John Dewey Brings together thinking in sociology and philosophy to redefine our perceptions of social relations and social life Contemporary empirical case studies demonstrate how trans-action, processual and relational thinking, and pragmatism can be used in the social sciences

Autorentext

Christian Morgner's (University of Leicester, UK) research interests include social justice, communication, social theory and development. He previously held a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Hitotsubashi University, Japan, and was as a Research Affiliate at the University of Cambridge, UK. He has also held visiting fellowships at Yale University, USA; University of Lucerne, Switzerland; University of Leuven, Belgium, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, France.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Reinventing Social Relations and Processes: John Dewey and Trans-actions.- Chapter 2: Causation is not everything: on constitution an dtrans-actional view of social science methodology.- Chapter 3: There is More to Groups of People than Just Groups and People: On Trans-Actional Analysis and Nationalism Studies.- Chapter 4: Trans-action, a processual and relational approach to organizations.- Chapter 5: Trans-actions in Music.- Chapter 6: The Emergence of Artistic Practice: From Self-Action to Trans-action.- Chapter 7: Updating Dewey's Transactional Theory of Action in Connection with Evolutionary Theory.- Chapter 8: From Inter-action to Trans-action: Ecologizing the Social Sciences.- Chapter 9: Human language as trans-actional autopoiesis.