Relational sociology, pragmatism, transactions and social fields

AbstractStarting from the idea that relational sociology has been founded on various and incompatible social ontologies, I argue that it is at risk of losing its raison d'être if we do not answer two fundamental practical and ontological questions: (1) Why do we need relational sociology? and (2) What do we study in relational sociology? In this respect, I propose a deep, transactional sociology partly and freely inspired by the work of J. Dewey which clearly detaches relational sociology from social determinism and co-determinism.Keywords: determinismco-determinismpragmatismsocial ontologysocial fieldstransactions Notes on contributorFrançois Dépelteau is associate professor of sociology at Laurentian University (Canada). He is the author and co-editor of books, chapters and articles on topics such as methodology, relational sociology, environmental risks, social movements and Norbert Elias. He recently created a research cluster on relational sociology with the Canadian Sociological Association. He is working on the coming publications of books on transactional sociology, Norbert Elias and violence, and sociological theories.Notes1. For another presentation of relational theories, see Mishe (Citation2011).2. For recent illustrations of this type of work, see Powell and Dépelteau (Citation2013) and Dépelteau and Powell (Citation2013).3. 'Why strive for knowledge of reality if this knowledge cannot serve us in life? To this we can make reply that, by revealing the causes of phenomena, science furnishes the means of producing them' (Durkheim Citation1938, p. 48).4. Readers can consult Martin (Citation2003) for a general presentation of what he calls 'field theory'.