Theory Beyond Structure and Agency
Introducing the Metric/Nonmetric Distinction
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“In this insightful and highly readable book, Jean-Sébastien Guy takes us on an intellectual tour de force that makes us see the social world in a different light. A fresh perspective and an essential contribution to the current discussions of social systems and relational sociology.”
—Jan A. Fuhse, Heisenberg Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany
“In this original and provocative book, Jean-Sebastien Guy convincingly shows how the problem of structure and agency that has preoccupied sociologists throughout the history of their discipline amounts to an optical illusion. Employing the concepts of the metric and the nonmetric and using a variety of readily accessible examples, the author proposes an entirely different social theoretical lens that is perceptive to the internal variety of social reality.”
—Olli Pyyhtinen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Tampere, Finland
This book offers asolution for the problem of structure and agency in sociological theory by developing a new pair of fundamental concepts: metric and nonmetric. Nonmetric forms, arising in a crowd made out of innumerable individuals, correspond to social groups that divide the many individuals in the crowd into insiders and outsiders. Metric forms correspond to congested zones like traffic jams on a highway: individuals are constantly entering and leaving these zones so that they continue to exist, even though the individuals passing through them change. Building from these concepts, we can understand “agency” as a requirement for group identity and group membership, thus associating it with nonmetric forms, and “structure” as a building-up effect following the accumulation of metric forms. This reveals the contradiction between structure and agency to be a case of forced perspective, leaving us victim to an optical illusion.
This book offers a solution for the problem of structure and agency in sociological theory by developing a new pair of fundamental concepts: metric and nonmetric. Nonmetric forms, arising in a crowd made out of innumerable individuals, correspond to social groups that divide the many individuals in the crowd into insiders and outsiders. Metric forms correspond to congested zones like traffic jams on a highway: individuals are constantly entering and leaving these zones so that they continue to exist, even though the individuals passing through them change. Building from these concepts, we can understand “agency” as a requirement for group identity and group membership, thus associating it with nonmetric forms, and “structure” as a building-up effect following the accumulation of metric forms. This reveals the contradiction between structure and agency to be a case of forced perspective, leaving us victim to an optical illusion.
Introduces metric and nonmetric to replace structure and agency, a distinction used in sociology, social anthropology, political science, history, and human geography Creates a framework that replaces “fixed” distinctions with a fluid approach to a variety of social realities Engages with classical and contemporary theorists in sociology and beyond
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Jean-Sébastien Guy
Themen in »Theory Beyond Structure and Agency«
structure agency Weber Durkheim Luhmann Bourdieu Foucault Giddens
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“In this insightful and highly readable book, Jean-Sébastien Guy takes us on an intellectual tour de force that makes us see the social world in a different light. The dreadful opposition between agency and structure has haunted social theory for too long – it is turned crosswise to realize: What we call social structures are really just social forms that balance one’s agency against that of others. Guy builds on philosopher Manuel DeLanda and systems theorist Niklas Luhmann to distinguish between two kinds of social forms: “Nonmetric” forms define and divide identities, like groups or social categories. “Metric forms”, like science or the economy, construct symbolic universes without attention to individuals. This distinction makes for a complex geometry of the social world based on how communication is organized, how social space is defined, and how individuals are dealt with. Guy gives us a fresh perspective and an essential contribution to the current discussions of social systemsand relational sociology.” (Jan A. Fuhse, Heisenberg Fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany)
“In this original and provocative book, Jean-Sebastien Guy convincingly shows how the problem of structure and agency that has preoccupied sociologists throughout the history of their discipline amounts to an optical illusion. Employing the concepts of the metric and the nonmetric and using a variety of readily accessible examples, the author proposes an entirely different social theoretical lens that is perceptive to the internal variety of social reality.” (Olli Pyyhtinen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Tampere, Finland)
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