In his view, social actions are shaped by the emotional energies displayed in face-to-face encounters where high energy individuals tend to direct much of these collective interfaces. These theoretical books have also played a significant role in helping Collins articulate a powerful analytical model to explain large-scale social change. Google Scholar. ): Frontiers of Social Theory. For example, we met in Pasadena while Judy, his wife, visited her father and Randy prepared for a presentation later in the day in Los Angeles; we adjourned to a bar for lunch and on napkins began to write out ideas for what eventually became the journal Sociological Theory. Although his early work was also centred on micro-interactional issues, it is only more recently that this research programme, highly influenced by Durkheim and Goffman, has come to the fore. Randall Collins . Randall Collins is the Dorothy Swaine Thomas Professor of Sociology and a member of the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. AB from Harvard College, MA from Stanford (in psychology), and MA and PhD from Berkeley (in sociology). (From Randall Collins, Conflict Sociology. This enormous book, based on over 30 years of painstaking research, traces the rise and decline of different intellectual traditions throughout the world over the thousands of years of human history. Military organisations have also devised different weapon systems that can be navigated collectively and, in this way, can maintain a degree of group solidarity that would stimulate collective war efforts. Some of these macro-sociological issues will receive more extensive attention in Collins’s forthcoming book on the time dynamics of violent conflicts. By Jonathan Turner, University of California-Riverside and University of California and originally published in Footnotes, Volume 39, Number 7. The strongest contemporary advocate of conflict theory is Randall Collins. The second section offers a summary overview of the papers that comprise the special issue. Randall Collins is arguably one of the world’s leading social theorists and one of the most prominent American sociologists. The book challenges the conventional views that associate violence with morally flawed individuals by conceptualising violent acts as situational … These and many other organisational developments were introduced to overcome the universal confrontational tension and fear that is triggered by violent encounters. In Western society, there has been increasing reliance on formal qualifications or certification for jobs. Without question, Karl Marx’s work in the early to mid-1800s formed the initial statements of this perspective. In contrast Collins shows persuasively that education has very limited impact on the existing patterns of social stratification and that the continuous increase in educational credentials is not related to job requirements. In Gugutzer, Robert/Staack, Michael (Hrsg. Goffman’s discussion of maintaining honour and face in a social setting is fundamentally important for understanding the production and reproduction of the social order. Drawing on the more political and materialist readings of Weber, Collins identified power politics, state prestige and status struggle as shaping much of social and political life on the macro level. Randy’s most recent books—Interaction Ritual Chains (2004) and Violence: A Micro-Sociological Theory (2008) and his in-progress book on Time-Dynamics of Conflict—all attest to the continuity in his theoretical approach since Conflict Sociology was first published (and republished this year by Paradigm Press). For example, many armed organisations tend to draft new recruits as groups of friends and family members rather than solitary individuals in order to benefit from their already existing interaction ritual chains. For more information view the SAGE Journals Sharing page. A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. To reduce its myriad complexities to causal order requires theory on another level of analysis. Hence by zooming in on the different intellectual traditions and on the ways new interpretative frameworks are generated, Collins devised a unique theory of intellectual change that explores not only how new knowledge is created but also how and why some theories gain influence while others remain invisible. AB from Harvard College, MA from Stanford (in psychology), and MA and PhD from Berkeley (in sociology). There have been many lunches, dinners, parties, hikes, car rides, and sailing trips where we continued to talk sociology. He argued that Sign in here to access free tools such as favourites and alerts, or to access personal subscriptions, If you have access to journal content via a university, library or employer, sign in here, Research off-campus without worrying about access issues. I’m going to show how conflict theory is applicable to different levels of social Randall Collins is Dorothy Swaine Thomas Professor of Sociology at University of Pennsylvania. He is a leading contemporary social theorist whose areas of expertise include Dr. Randall Collins is an American sociologist who has been influential in both his teaching and writing. Another quality Randy possesses is that he is both an easy-going "good guy" and, at the same time, a constantly engaged intellectual—fun to talk to, drink and laugh with, and (in the old days when I was younger and foolish) to smoke cigars with, while still managing to discuss the state of affairs in sociology. Access to society journal content varies across our titles. Weberian Sociological Theory. These studies emphasise the role emotions, rituals and routine encounters play in social life. In her ‘Reflections on Collin’s Sociology of Credentialism’, Su-Ming Khoo interrogates Collins’s ‘credential society’, examining its contemporary relevance and updating it with reference to fundamental changes that have taken place in higher education, especially in terms of the latter’s focus on producing ever-increasing numbers of students, despite declining funding from the state, and in equipping students with technological skills within the context of a greater diversity in student composition. ... “Levi-Strauss' Structural History.” Pp. What emerges from this history is a social theory of intellectual change, one that avoids both the reduction of ideas to the influences of society at large and the purely contingent local construction of meanings. The book attempted to question the conventional understandings of education as a fair and successful vehicle of social mobility as well as the functionalist idea that increases in the number of highly educated graduates reflected greater demand from the expanding social system. Google Scholar. 5. Of the many foundational works that Randy has written, Conflict Sociology is for me his best because it is an effort to develop a general theory—stated in a system of abstract laws—of human society at the micro, meso, and macro levels of social reality. View or download all content the institution has subscribed to. It starts with sensory input of some kind: sight, sound, senses in the body or on its surface. His books include Interaction Ritual Chains (Princeton) and The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. It is a false lead to look for types of violent individuals, constant across situations. Collins is currently Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. William James' Whole-Body Psychology, With A Theory of Alzheimer's Disease. Siniša Malešević is a full professor/chair of Sociology at University College, Dublin. His research interests include migration, sociological theory, sociology of knowledge, and historical sociology. Sociology Department . Randall Collins. This micro-sociological research is balanced with Collins’s continuous interest in the macro-sociology of organised violence, including a number of recent journal articles and chapters on war, revolutions, time-dynamics of crowd violence, forward panic, geopolitics and fighting efficacy. Credentialism and educational inflation are any of a number of related processes involving increased demands for formal educational qualifications, and the devaluation of these qualifications. He received a B.A. The classical tradition of theory in sociology moves in three distinct directions: the Marxian, Weberian, and Durkheimian. Weblinks October 4, 2020. The term “conflict theory” came into wide use in sociology during the 1960s, when it was seen as an alternative to and rival of functionalism. Sozial- und kulturwissenschaftliche Zugänge und Analysen. In: George Ritzer (Hg. One of the key arguments advanced is that most individuals are adverse to, and incompetent at, violence in face-to-face contexts. Steven Loyal is an associate professor of Sociology at University College Dublin. Randall Collins. In the last two decades Collins has focused much of his attention on micro-sociology. New York: Academic Press, 1974, pp.56-61. New York: Cambridge University Press. Randall Collins is an American sociologist, and writer. Interaction Ritual Chains is a major work of sociological theory that attempts to develop a “radical microsociology.” It also provides an important corrective to individualistic and rational choice inspired sociologies. You can be signed in via any or all of the methods shown below at the same time. In addition, he has held many visiting positions at elite universities and institutes in the United States and around the globe. Hence the nation-state, as the dominant form of organisational power in modernity and the only institution capable of monopolising the legitimate use of violence over a specific territory, becomes the key power player in the geopolitical arena. Also in process are a series on what produces charismatic leaders, and on how sociological processes generate creativity in literature and science. Hence in Conflict Sociology (1975) Collins rejects structural-functionalist explanations and Parsons’s one-dimensional reading of Weber while also being critical of the conventional Marxist accounts of social conflict. Bits and pieces are famous: The James-Lange theory that you feel afraid because you run away, not vice versa. And yet, argues sociologist Randall Collins, they and much else in our social lives are driven by a common force: interaction rituals. This introduction to a special issue outlines the significance of Randall Collins’s contribution to sociology. In the final paper, ‘Grounding Nationalism: Randall Collins and the Sociology of Nationhood’, Siniša Malešević examines the relative, though by no means absolute, neglect of nationalism in the work of the classical sociologists. The most successful networks combine effective and relatively centralised organisational structures with clearly articulated and active intellectual positions involved in continuous debates with competing intellectual networks, as was the case with the ancient Greek and Chinese schools of thought or the networks of scholars in the Islamic world between the 8th and 13th centuries. 6. We begin with Michal Mann. However, despite this wide intellectual and cross-disciplinary appeal there has not been much critical assessment of Collins’s contribution to sociology. Collins, Randall. 15 maps, 57 line illustrations, 2 tables . Randall Collins traces the movement of philosophical thought in ancient Greece, China, Japan, India, the medieval Islamic and Jewish world, medieval Christendom, and modern Europe. Contact us if you experience any difficulty logging in. In his early work Collins attempted to overcome the deep polarities that underpinned 1960s and early 1970s sociological thought – the epistemological splits between conflict and consensus focused theories of social order and the methodological ruptures between the positivists and the interpretivists. Create a link to share a read only version of this article with your colleagues and friends. Collins argues that the educational system is not built to teach specific skills but to inculcate specific middle-class values that favour the status quo, thus providing popular justification for the existing economic and political monopolies within US society: ‘the rise of a competitive system for producing abstract cultural currency in the form of educational credentials has been the major new force shaping stratification in twentieth-century America’ (Collins, 1979: 94). Collins is currently Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Indeed, his best work is likely to come in the years ahead. Hence most human beings are reluctant to engage in violent encounters, and when compelled to take part in such violent situations they are usually inept or even paralysed by fear. FundingThe author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This requires a more rigorous understanding of nationalism as an organisationally, ideologically and micro-interactionally grounded phenomenon. 1986. Collins is tans die Dorothy Swaine Thomas professor in sosiologie, emeritus aan die Universiteit van Pennsilvanië. I have read and accept the terms and conditions, View permissions information for this article. He proclaimed that Randy might be the smartest person he had ever met—a surprising admission since my colleague tended to see himself as this "smartest person." And, despite the long commute from San Diego (at times staying over night at my place) and his constant travels all over the world, he was not, in any intellectual sense, "absent." For Collins these chains are critical for the production and maintenance of group solidarity, and as such they can be measured empirically: the degree of intergroup solidarity can be determined in part by exploring the intensity of collective attachments to specific group symbols. I would never have been pulled into the sociology of emotions, I suspect, had I not wanted to demonstrate that negative emotions as much as positive emotional energy drive interactions, nor would I have written the two books on institutions unless I desired to demonstrate (to Randy and the many doubters) that institutions are real emergent structures, not just reifications; I would not have begun to theorize at the micro social order unless I wanted to demonstrate that other key dynamics operate beyond interaction rituals. He has taught in many notable universities around the world and his academic works have been translated into various languages. He examines the rise of populism in four countries: the US, Sweden, India, and China. And yet, argues sociologist Randall Collins, they and much else in our social lives are driven by a common force: interaction rituals. Some of my own work has been enormously influenced by Randy’s work and the many long-lasting debates that we had nurtured over the years. This approach conceptualises human beings as social and conflict-driven creatures focused on maximising their social status positions. New York: Academic Press ... “Levi-Strauss' Structural History.” Pp. The level of interpersonal interaction is all-inclusive; by the same token, it is highly abstract. Lea David in ‘Human Rights, Memory and Micro-solidarity’ shifts the focus from Collins’s macro to micro analyses by engaging with Collin’s work on ritual and emotional energy, developed in his book Interaction Ritual Chains, to examine the relation between human rights, micro-solidarity and social action. Instead, Collins develops a wider theory of conflict that incorporates Weber, Marx, Durkheim and Goffman. 109-132 in Sociology Since Midcentury: Essays in Theory Cumulation. Collins’s micro focus on emotional energy in face-to-face interactions, drawn from Durkheim and Goffman’s foregrounding of rituals and the existence of Weberian status groups on a macro level, however, allows the discipline to fend off such unwarranted attacks. These intellectual networks tend to rely on intergenerational chains and their influence is dependent on profound disagreements with competing schools of thought. Randall Collins traces the movement of philosophical thought in ancient Greece, China, Japan, India, the medieval Islamic and Jewish world, medieval Christendom, and modern Europe. Publication Date: 03/15/2000. Short. The first two represent extremes in terms of the varieties of capitalism while the latter two represent developing societies. New York: Columbia University Press, S. 68-87. He is a leading contemporary social theorist whose areas of expertise … Randall Collins (gebore op 29 Julie 1941) is 'n Amerikaanse sosioloog wat invloedryk was in sy onderrig en skryfwerk. Collins, Randall (1990a): Conflict Theory and the Advance of Macro-Historical Sociology. Collins compares and contrasts the patterns of intellectual networks from ancient China, India, Japan, and Greece, to medieval Islamic, Jewish and Christian scholastic traditions, to more recent intellectual development within the schools of philosophy in Europe. Collins, Randall. These books demonstrate the breadth of his knowledge, his ability to creatively incorporate the classical and contemporary theoretical approaches into a novel framework for analysis and his capacity to apply these theoretical insights to a variety of empirical contexts. Dr. Randall Collins is an American sociologist who has been influential in both his teaching and writing. Thus, Collins demonstrates how empirical studies on state formation and social stratification have fostered development of sociological knowledge over time. Wir verwenden Cookies und ähnliche Tools, um Ihr Einkaufserlebnis zu verbessern, um unsere Dienste anzubieten, um zu verstehen, wie die Kunden unsere Dienste nutzen, damit wir Verbesserungen vornehmen können, und um Werbung anzuzeigen. His first academic job at the University of Wisconsin, first promoted at the University of California-San Diego, then professor at the University of Virginia, senior professor at the University of California-Riverside, and most recently, endowed Chair at the University of Pennsylvania. The book challenges the conventional views that associate violence with morally flawed individuals by conceptualising violent acts as situational responses. Eschewing interpretivist visions of the sociological project, Collins is an unabashed advocate of positivism and attempts, in his theoretical work, to formulate "generalized, causal, empirical explanations" for … If you have access to a journal via a society or association membership, please browse to your society journal, select an article to view, and follow the instructions in this box. His Durkheimian focus on symbols and rituals as well as Weberian foregrounding of geo-politics integrates a macro and micro focus, which examines nationalism in terms of effervescent time-bubbles and has been of tremendous significance for the study of nationalism. (Dec., 1971), pp. His theory includes both _____ and _____ components. Randall Collins is the Dorothy Swaine Thomas Professor of Sociology and a member of the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. Collins is tans die Dorothy Swaine Thomas professor in sosiologie, emeritus aan die Universiteit van Pennsilvanië. PAPERBACK. For Collins the vibrancy of a particular intellectual network entails external debates, dialogues and disagreement but also internal social dynamics with shifting patterns of stratification and solidarity. Credentialism refers to the common practice of relying on earned credentials … ↑ Collins, Randall (2015). Steven Loyal in ‘Bourdieu and Collins on the Reproduction of Elites’ returns to analysing macro processes, again focusing on Collins’s credential society, but this time comparing it with Bourdieu’s work in the sociology of education, and especially his book The State Nobility. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click on download. Even those sociologists who analysed its underpinning and mechanisms tended to focus on its derivation from state-formation. To reduce its myriad complexities to causal order requires theory on another level of analysis. Sex, smoking, and social stratification are three very different social phenomena. in psychology at Stanford (1964); and Ph.D. at University of California, Berkeley (1969), where he studied with Herbert Blumer, Erving Goffman, and Reinhard Bendix. Even on ceremonial occasions, such as when his wife (then, a superior court judge) officiated at the wedding of two of my children, we still managed to talk some sociology. Violence: A Micro-sociological Theory Randall Collins. Randall Collins:A Smart and Influential TheoristProfessor Randall Collins has had a remarkable career. He received a B.A. As you know, Marx was centrally concerned with class and the dialectics of capitalism. Even though he commuted from San Diego a day or two a week, we still managed to have many discussions, often with graduate students, about issues pertaining to sociological theory. He read my papers quickly and offered many comments and suggestions, and I also read his. In the last paper Randall Collins thoughtfully reflects and responds to the ideas and arguments of all these papers, pointing to developments and misunderstandings in his impressive oeuvre. Conflict Sociology: Toward an Explanatory Science. 4. Randy is the most responsive colleague I have ever had. Cowan, Ruth Schwartz.