That’s quite a lineup they have planned for this symposium.
In June 2008, the second and revised edition of Harrison White’s opus magnum Identity and Control was published (Princeton University Press). On this occasion, we plan to hold an international symposium for a discussion of the Relational Sociology around White in Berlin on the 25th and 26th of September 2008.
Goals of the symposium are to promote Relational Sociology in Germany (where it is still widely unknown), and, furthermore, to discuss its theoretical arguments, also in comparison to other theories of social structures, shed light upon its methodological implications, and highlight empirical applications in various fields…
Here’s the conference web site. H/t Tina Guenther.
Bizarre how the land of Hegel and Marx is so resistant to relational thinking …
@ a very public sociologist: on the contrary, German sociology is characterized by a strong interest in American contributions and increasingly taking up writings by authors from the United States. I was lucky to attend when W. Richard Scott came to Siegen in 2003, I will certainly be there when Neil Fligstein comes to Jena late this fall, and hope to be able to attend the conference with Harrison White, as well. But the most impressive talk by an American Sociologist to me was Donald Levine giving a talk on Webers sociology in perfect German in the late 1990s in Bamberg. So, network density is increasing, and that is a really positive development.
Tina – At the risk of mischaracterizing AVPS’s comment, I think it was intended a bit ironically. I guess to me the question is whether or not, given the dialectical tradition, German sociology already has made contributions to and the resources for a ‘relational’ sociology of its own, rather than needing to draw upon American versions. And even aside from this, the amount of attention that Harrison White pays to Luhmann in the new edition of I & C suggests, for instance, an approach to relationality in German sociology that already exists. So it’s not entirely clear what’s meant when it’s said that relational sociology is still not widely known in Germany – but this is more a reflection of my own lack of awareness of doctrinal differences and trends than anything else.
But I agree, the main point is that this symposium is another sign that network density is increasing, and that is a very good thing.