Organising Modernity: Social Ordering and Social TheoryIn this important theoretical and empirical statement John Law argues against the purity of post-enlightenment political and social theory, and offers an alternative post-modern sociology. Arguing in favor of a sociology of verbs, he suggests that power, organizations, mind-body dualisms, and macro-micro distinctions may all be understood as the local performance of recursive modes of social ordering. Drawing on a range of theoretical traditions including actor-network theory, verstehende sociology, and the writing of Michel Foucault, he explores the production of materials - including agents and architectures - and their importance for these modes of ordering. The book, which draws on organizational ethnography to develop its argument, is essential reading for all those interested in social theory, materialism, or the sociology of organizations at the end of the era of high modernity. |
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actor-network theory Adrian Smith agency agents analysis Andrew Goldthorpe Anthony Giddens argument backstage bits and pieces Bruno Latour Callon character charisma commitment context contingent crew Daresbury Laboratory deletion discourse dualism effects embody and perform enterprise ethnographer explore Foucault Giddens Giovanni Alberti Here's heroes heroic heroism hideous purity hierarchy important imputed interaction interactionists John Law kind klystron last instance Latour look machine physicists managers materials Michel Michel Callon Michel Foucault modern modes of ordering modest sociology networks Norbert Elias notion ordering modes ordering patterns organization organizational particular perform and embody perhaps political possible post-structuralism pragmatic problem question recursive reflexive relations representation scientific scientists self-reflexive sense social ordering social theory sociologists sometimes speak story-telling strategies structure symbolic interactionism talk technicians tell stories tend things told trying vision vocation voices writing