Structuralism Versus Individualism: Part 1, Shadowboxing in the Dark

American sociology has been dominated by an individualist, psychologistic perspective. This dominance has been so pervasive that American sociologists are generally unfamiliar with a sociological apprehension of social phenomena. That is, American sociologists are largely unfamiliar with the structu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social forces 1980-12, Vol.59 (2), p.335-375
Main Author: Mayhew, Bruce H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Human behavior
Humans
Individualism
Marxist sociology
MODELING, MODELS
POLITICAL BEHAVIOR
POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY
POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY
Psychology
Social interaction
Social networking
Social psychology
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Social structures
STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL THEORY
Terminology
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Summary:American sociology has been dominated by an individualist, psychologistic perspective. This dominance has been so pervasive that American sociologists are generally unfamiliar with a sociological apprehension of social phenomena. That is, American sociologists are largely unfamiliar with the structuralist (sociological) view of social phenomena. The two approaches are so far apart and employ such different terminologies and definitions that they would be more accurately conceived as two entirely different fields of study. This essay attempts to draw out some of the differences between the structuralist and the individualist perspectives and to offer a criticism of the individualist position. The critical aspects of the essay are intended to clarify for individualist sociologists just why structuralists regard individualism not only as a dead end, but, indeed, not even as sociology.
ISSN:0037-7732
1534-7605
DOI:10.1093/sf/59.2.335