Social Reality as Figuration: A Critique of Elias's Conception of Sociological Analysis

In: Sociology: the journal of the British Sociological Association, Band 20, Heft 3, S. 367-386

Abstract

Elias has proposed what he suggests is a novel characterisation of social reality, in the shape of the concept of `figuration'. Elias claims that this concept, and the `figurational sociology' which analytically supports it, transcend extant approaches. Elias also claims to have `transcended' epistemological debates such as rationalism versus empiricism, as well as such categories as `true' and `false', by appeal to the notion of the `object adequacy' of concepts. I examine the epistemological and ontological assumptions built into Elias's analysis, and conclude that he exaggerates the novelty and explanatory power of his approach. I also argue that far from transcending epistemological concerns, Elias's whole analysis is constrained by his implicit commitment to a sophisticated empiricism.