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Routine Dynamics in Action: Replication and Transformation (Research in the Sociology of Organizations #61)
by Martha S. Feldman Luciana D'Adderio Katharina Dittrich Paula JarzabkowskiContains an Open Access chapter. As organizations become increasingly distributed and diverse, and products, technologies and services more complex and dispersed, there is mounting pressure to understand how work can be coordinated across geographical, cultural and intellectual distance, both within and across organizations. As a result, questions arise about how work is accomplished through organizational practices and routines and in particular how patterns of actions are replicated and transformed across different contexts and over time. Routine dynamics has started to explore these dynamics by focusing attention on how routines (as practices) are enacted and, thus, created and re-created over time and across organizational locations through the actions of people and machines. This book explores central themes in the enactment and coordination of organizational routines, drawing in particular on in-depth case studies and empirically-grounded theorizing. The chapters explore important organizational phenomena in the areas of strategy, entrepreneurship, human resources, health care, social policy, and the arts. Focusing in particular on four central themes in routine dynamics: replication and transfer; ecology and interdependence; action and the generation of novelty and technology and sociomateriality.
Managing Inter-Organizational Collaborations: Process Views (Research in the Sociology of Organizations #64)
by Jörg Sydow Hans BerendsThis volume contains two Open Access Chapters. Volume 64 of Research in the Sociology of Organizations takes stock of research on processes of inter-organizational collaboration and explores new topics that call for inquiry. It shows that inter-organizational collaboration is becoming more varied and fluid. Traditional strategic alliances and consortia are still around, but these are complemented with new forms of collaboration, often enabled by emerging digital technologies. The volume is organized in three parts. The first set of chapters focus on relational dynamics of inter-organizational collaboration. Process views of inter-organizational collaboration investigate the relational embeddedness of interactions, the development and change of relations, and how relationships are constituted as processual phenomena. The second part of this volume addresses organizational dynamics in collaboration processes. Organizations themselves are not stable in any collaboration: just as collaboration is fluid, also organizations continuously change, and intra-organizational dynamics are key to understand external collaboration. Third, this volume addresses new phenomena in the changing landscape of inter-organizational collaboration, thereby laying out directions for future inquiry.
Managing Inter-Organizational Collaborations: Process Views (Research in the Sociology of Organizations #64)
by Jörg Sydow Hans BerendsThis volume contains two Open Access Chapters. Volume 64 of Research in the Sociology of Organizations takes stock of research on processes of inter-organizational collaboration and explores new topics that call for inquiry. It shows that inter-organizational collaboration is becoming more varied and fluid. Traditional strategic alliances and consortia are still around, but these are complemented with new forms of collaboration, often enabled by emerging digital technologies. The volume is organized in three parts. The first set of chapters focus on relational dynamics of inter-organizational collaboration. Process views of inter-organizational collaboration investigate the relational embeddedness of interactions, the development and change of relations, and how relationships are constituted as processual phenomena. The second part of this volume addresses organizational dynamics in collaboration processes. Organizations themselves are not stable in any collaboration: just as collaboration is fluid, also organizations continuously change, and intra-organizational dynamics are key to understand external collaboration. Third, this volume addresses new phenomena in the changing landscape of inter-organizational collaboration, thereby laying out directions for future inquiry.
Critical Realism, History, and Philosophy in the Social Sciences (Political Power and Social Theory #34)
by Timothy Rutzou George SteinmetzSocial science, history, and philosophy have often been neglect in thinking through their fundamentally intertwined relationship. The result is often an inattention to philosophy where social science and history is concerned, or a neglect of historicity and social analysis where philosophy is concerned. Meanwhile, the place of values in research is often uneasily passed over in silence. The inattention to, and loss of, the intersection between these different disciplines and their subject matters, leaves our investigations all the more impoverished as a result. In resolving these problems, it is not enough to strive for cooperation or integration, but to rethink of the nature of the disciplines themselves; their interests, purposes, and presuppositions. In this volume, contributors explore different facets of these relationships, and move beyond the problematics erected by positivism often cast in terms of value-free or value-neutral science, that is, a science obsessed with empirical data, schematic classifications, and the pursuit of law-like forms. While positivism has been subject to critique, the influence and legacy of positivism remains. It remains in the way in which we often think about science; the line drawn between the sciences and the humanities; the norms researchers should follow; what a successful explanation looks like; and the ethical, normative, and political implications of scientific research. Aimed at students and researchers of philosophy, history and the social sciences, this book is driven by a desire to revindicate questions concerning ontology and social ontology, to rethink the nature of explanation, and to resituate normativity and values within scientific, social scientific, and historical pursuits.
Critical Realism, History, and Philosophy in the Social Sciences (Political Power and Social Theory #34)
by Timothy Rutzou George SteinmetzSocial science, history, and philosophy have often been neglect in thinking through their fundamentally intertwined relationship. The result is often an inattention to philosophy where social science and history is concerned, or a neglect of historicity and social analysis where philosophy is concerned. Meanwhile, the place of values in research is often uneasily passed over in silence. The inattention to, and loss of, the intersection between these different disciplines and their subject matters, leaves our investigations all the more impoverished as a result. In resolving these problems, it is not enough to strive for cooperation or integration, but to rethink of the nature of the disciplines themselves; their interests, purposes, and presuppositions. In this volume, contributors explore different facets of these relationships, and move beyond the problematics erected by positivism often cast in terms of value-free or value-neutral science, that is, a science obsessed with empirical data, schematic classifications, and the pursuit of law-like forms. While positivism has been subject to critique, the influence and legacy of positivism remains. It remains in the way in which we often think about science; the line drawn between the sciences and the humanities; the norms researchers should follow; what a successful explanation looks like; and the ethical, normative, and political implications of scientific research. Aimed at students and researchers of philosophy, history and the social sciences, this book is driven by a desire to revindicate questions concerning ontology and social ontology, to rethink the nature of explanation, and to resituate normativity and values within scientific, social scientific, and historical pursuits.
Organisational Control in University Management: A Multiparadigm Approach (Emerald Points)
by Eneli KindsikoOrganisational Control in University Management: A Multiparadigm Approach focuses on significant reform and change in large organisations. The book takes as its primary focus the example of management reform at the University of Tartu, Estonia, foregrounding the complexity of change and reform of the management structures at a HE institution. Eneli Kindsiko presents findings that illuminate issues of organisational control in broader institutional contexts, exploring a wide-ranging set of theoretical and practical implications for many institutional sectors in the organisation studies field. The book presents a thorough overview of literature on organisational control, an in-depth methodological approach (with the study building on three core research paradigms: modernist, symbolic and postmodern), and a conceptual framework for addressing the complexities of organisational control in large institutions.
Organisational Control in University Management: A Multiparadigm Approach (Emerald Points)
by Eneli KindsikoOrganisational Control in University Management: A Multiparadigm Approach focuses on significant reform and change in large organisations. The book takes as its primary focus the example of management reform at the University of Tartu, Estonia, foregrounding the complexity of change and reform of the management structures at a HE institution. Eneli Kindsiko presents findings that illuminate issues of organisational control in broader institutional contexts, exploring a wide-ranging set of theoretical and practical implications for many institutional sectors in the organisation studies field. The book presents a thorough overview of literature on organisational control, an in-depth methodological approach (with the study building on three core research paradigms: modernist, symbolic and postmodern), and a conceptual framework for addressing the complexities of organisational control in large institutions.
Green Behavior and Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia
by Farzana Quoquab Jihad MohammadIn recent years, the issues of sustainability, green behavior and corporate social responsibility have become a growing global concern. This increased concern for environmental welfare has started to affect the way marketers, managers and policy makers think and organize their businesses. In Western culture, there has been widespread discussion on green related issues; however, different cultures are at an earlier stage in embracing this global change. Green Behavior and Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia seeks to apply this discussion to Asian culture, using case studies that reflect the reaction, response, managerial problems and success of seven Asian countries – India, Malaysia, Turkey, Brunei, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – in adopting green concepts. These concepts include: green organizations; eco-tourism; food loss and waste; recycling-reuse; waste management practice; green space; the plastic-bag free campaign; care for animals; and, corporate social responsibility. The cases outlined in this book illustrate how numerous companies and organizations operating in Asian countries incorporate green marketing and green management related concepts and issues into their strategy. It will appeal to researchers and practitioners, working in the fields of consumer behavior, human resource management, organizational behavior and sustainability.
Green Behavior and Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia
by Farzana Quoquab Jihad MohammadIn recent years, the issues of sustainability, green behavior and corporate social responsibility have become a growing global concern. This increased concern for environmental welfare has started to affect the way marketers, managers and policy makers think and organize their businesses. In Western culture, there has been widespread discussion on green related issues; however, different cultures are at an earlier stage in embracing this global change. Green Behavior and Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia seeks to apply this discussion to Asian culture, using case studies that reflect the reaction, response, managerial problems and success of seven Asian countries – India, Malaysia, Turkey, Brunei, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – in adopting green concepts. These concepts include: green organizations; eco-tourism; food loss and waste; recycling-reuse; waste management practice; green space; the plastic-bag free campaign; care for animals; and, corporate social responsibility. The cases outlined in this book illustrate how numerous companies and organizations operating in Asian countries incorporate green marketing and green management related concepts and issues into their strategy. It will appeal to researchers and practitioners, working in the fields of consumer behavior, human resource management, organizational behavior and sustainability.
Strategic Business Models: Idealism and Realism in Strategy
by Frederick BetzStrategy needs to be partly idealistic and partly realistic. On the one hand, it exists to help managers and executives envision the most beneficial future possible—one that is optimally competitive and profitable. But such visualizing needs to go hand-in-hand with concrete planning. In order to formulate a strategy that will really work, organizations need to master the technique of modelling in order to plan what can properly be called strategic business model, a model that both depicts the operations of a business and that provides the analytical basis for examining and formulating the plan for the future operations of a firm. Here leading expert Frederick Betz reviews the strategic modelling technique and applies it to diverse kinds of businesses, both productive and financial, and including banks and hedge funds. He illustrates the possibilities of this technique—and the pitfalls of using it incorrectly—by applying it to real business cases, some successful and some problematic. As strategic business models are important to understand the transformative operations of an enterprise system for present and future competitiveness, Betz’s exploration into both manufacturing and financial firms, along with retailing firms and conglomerates, broadens the business literature. Strategic Business Models: Idealism and Realism in Strategy is essential reading for managers and strategists wishing to optimize the effectiveness of their strategic planning.
Strategic Business Models: Idealism and Realism in Strategy
by Frederick BetzStrategy needs to be partly idealistic and partly realistic. On the one hand, it exists to help managers and executives envision the most beneficial future possible—one that is optimally competitive and profitable. But such visualizing needs to go hand-in-hand with concrete planning. In order to formulate a strategy that will really work, organizations need to master the technique of modelling in order to plan what can properly be called strategic business model, a model that both depicts the operations of a business and that provides the analytical basis for examining and formulating the plan for the future operations of a firm. Here leading expert Frederick Betz reviews the strategic modelling technique and applies it to diverse kinds of businesses, both productive and financial, and including banks and hedge funds. He illustrates the possibilities of this technique—and the pitfalls of using it incorrectly—by applying it to real business cases, some successful and some problematic. As strategic business models are important to understand the transformative operations of an enterprise system for present and future competitiveness, Betz’s exploration into both manufacturing and financial firms, along with retailing firms and conglomerates, broadens the business literature. Strategic Business Models: Idealism and Realism in Strategy is essential reading for managers and strategists wishing to optimize the effectiveness of their strategic planning.
Microcelebrity Around the Globe: Approaches to Cultures of Internet Fame
by Crystal Abidin Megan Lindsay BrownThis absorbing anthology uses in-depth interdisciplinary case studies from across the globe to examine the practice and concept of microcelebrity. Expanding on the existing theoretical framing of the online celebrity experience, the editors re-theorize microcelebrity to accommodate developments in global internet governance, the evolution of platform politics, the emergence of hybrid forms of celebrity, and the collapsing networks between old and new media. Chapters analyse experiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australia, and consider microcelebrities at all stages of their careers, from everyday users and beginners to veteran influencers. Arguing for new perspectives and theories of microcelebrity that take into account colonial geographies, cross-media networks between influencers and legacy media, and gendered aggression and political discourses in a social media-saturated age, this volume will be of huge value to students and scholars of microcelebrity, social media, digital labour, creative industries and internet culture.
Microcelebrity Around the Globe: Approaches to Cultures of Internet Fame
by Megan Lindsay Brown Crystal AbidinThis absorbing anthology uses in-depth interdisciplinary case studies from across the globe to examine the practice and concept of microcelebrity. Expanding on the existing theoretical framing of the online celebrity experience, the editors re-theorize microcelebrity to accommodate developments in global internet governance, the evolution of platform politics, the emergence of hybrid forms of celebrity, and the collapsing networks between old and new media. Chapters analyse experiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australia, and consider microcelebrities at all stages of their careers, from everyday users and beginners to veteran influencers. Arguing for new perspectives and theories of microcelebrity that take into account colonial geographies, cross-media networks between influencers and legacy media, and gendered aggression and political discourses in a social media-saturated age, this volume will be of huge value to students and scholars of microcelebrity, social media, digital labour, creative industries and internet culture.
A Meaningful Life at Work: The Paradox of Wellbeing (Emerald Points)
by Raida Abu Bakar Rosmawani Che Hashim Sharmila Jayasingam Safiah Omar Norizah Mohd MustamilA Meaningful Life at Work addresses a range of contemporary issues that impact on an individual's experiences in the workplace, including those that may restrict opportunities for personal growth in a professional setting. Understanding an employee's values, their choices and the problems they face in the workplace may help organisations to better structure their human resource policies, compensation packages and working conditions. The authors explore employee wellbeing from a Malaysian perspective as a developing country, but they also reflect on the broader Asian and wider global context. The key themes analysed in this book include work addiction, cyber bullying, sexual harassment in the workplace and the ethics of workplace behaviour. The book contributes to the theoretical discourse around organisation studies and employee wellbeing, while also seeking to integrate academic concepts with practice. In this way, it offers practical steps towards promoting positivity and happiness in the workplace.
A Meaningful Life at Work: The Paradox of Wellbeing (Emerald Points)
by Raida Abu Bakar Rosmawani Che Hashim Sharmila Jayasingam Safiah Omar Norizah Mohd MustamilA Meaningful Life at Work addresses a range of contemporary issues that impact on an individual's experiences in the workplace, including those that may restrict opportunities for personal growth in a professional setting. Understanding an employee's values, their choices and the problems they face in the workplace may help organisations to better structure their human resource policies, compensation packages and working conditions. The authors explore employee wellbeing from a Malaysian perspective as a developing country, but they also reflect on the broader Asian and wider global context. The key themes analysed in this book include work addiction, cyber bullying, sexual harassment in the workplace and the ethics of workplace behaviour. The book contributes to the theoretical discourse around organisation studies and employee wellbeing, while also seeking to integrate academic concepts with practice. In this way, it offers practical steps towards promoting positivity and happiness in the workplace.
Rewriting Leadership with Narrative Intelligence: How Leaders Can Thrive in Complex, Confusing and Contradictory Times
by Greg MorganLeadership is a slippery concept. Researchers disagree on its essence, describing it variously as behaviours, character traits or styles. Effective leaders understand that we make meaning of our experiences by creating stories we believe to be true, but which are largely based on fragmentary evidence filtered through our biases, beliefs and dispositions. Rewriting Leadership with Narrative Intelligence draws on a range of disciplines and scholarly traditions to build a compelling case for a new perspective on leadership, seeing it as a deeply embodied, intuitive skill of curating shared narratives, in influence relationships. Defining narrative intelligence as 'our ability to evaluate the efficacy of the stories we create to serve our needs, our capacity to rewrite them, and the practical skill to take effective action', this book methodically outlines how leaders cultivate their own narrative intelligence to: Become the person they seek to be by aligning narratives and core values with actions Navigate through the challenging leadership space of populism and the erosion of traditional values Ethically curate the narrative others hold of them Strengthen self-efficacy, take more effective actions, and avoid stories which inadvertently undermine goals Communicate with trust and influence Build energy and alignment within teams by generating shared narratives Cultivate a culture of narrative intelligence This book will prepare leaders to reshape their own and others' stories to be more aligned with achieving goals and wellbeing. It will prove a useful resource to undergraduates and post-graduates in courses on leadership and management, as well as organizational development consultants and senior executives.
Rewriting Leadership with Narrative Intelligence: How Leaders Can Thrive in Complex, Confusing and Contradictory Times
by Greg MorganLeadership is a slippery concept. Researchers disagree on its essence, describing it variously as behaviours, character traits or styles. Effective leaders understand that we make meaning of our experiences by creating stories we believe to be true, but which are largely based on fragmentary evidence filtered through our biases, beliefs and dispositions. Rewriting Leadership with Narrative Intelligence draws on a range of disciplines and scholarly traditions to build a compelling case for a new perspective on leadership, seeing it as a deeply embodied, intuitive skill of curating shared narratives, in influence relationships. Defining narrative intelligence as 'our ability to evaluate the efficacy of the stories we create to serve our needs, our capacity to rewrite them, and the practical skill to take effective action', this book methodically outlines how leaders cultivate their own narrative intelligence to: Become the person they seek to be by aligning narratives and core values with actions Navigate through the challenging leadership space of populism and the erosion of traditional values Ethically curate the narrative others hold of them Strengthen self-efficacy, take more effective actions, and avoid stories which inadvertently undermine goals Communicate with trust and influence Build energy and alignment within teams by generating shared narratives Cultivate a culture of narrative intelligence This book will prepare leaders to reshape their own and others' stories to be more aligned with achieving goals and wellbeing. It will prove a useful resource to undergraduates and post-graduates in courses on leadership and management, as well as organizational development consultants and senior executives.
Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change #42)
by Patrick G. CoyResearch in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change has now published continuously for over 40 years, and this volume continues its tradition of delivering data-driven and multi-method research by scholars who constantly push theory forward. Covering a compelling range of subjects, this important collection begins by addressing the critically important dimensions of the relationships that social movements, their activists, and their organizations have with the state and other institutions. It then moves on to examine three movements linked by frame and discourse analysis, before concluding with a survey of the biographical trajectory of activism. The contributions focus on a number of topical and crucially important issues, including, among others: environmental activism in China, the Black Lives Matter movement, the 2011 uprising in Tunisia, and Russian opposition movements. With a strong contributor team and a confident style, this volume is a significant addition to the RSMCC series and will be of great interest to those working and researching within the social movement field.
Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change (Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change #42)
by Patrick G. CoyResearch in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change has now published continuously for over 40 years, and this volume continues its tradition of delivering data-driven and multi-method research by scholars who constantly push theory forward. Covering a compelling range of subjects, this important collection begins by addressing the critically important dimensions of the relationships that social movements, their activists, and their organizations have with the state and other institutions. It then moves on to examine three movements linked by frame and discourse analysis, before concluding with a survey of the biographical trajectory of activism. The contributions focus on a number of topical and crucially important issues, including, among others: environmental activism in China, the Black Lives Matter movement, the 2011 uprising in Tunisia, and Russian opposition movements. With a strong contributor team and a confident style, this volume is a significant addition to the RSMCC series and will be of great interest to those working and researching within the social movement field.
Advances in Group Processes (Advances in Group Processes #35)
by Shane R. Thye Edward J. LawlerAdvances in Group Processes publishes theoretical analyses, reviews, and theory-based empirical chapters on group phenomena. The series adopts a broad conception of "group processes." This includes work on groups ranging from the very small to the very large, and on classic and contemporary topics such as status, power, trust, justice, social influence, identity, decision-making, intergroup relations, and social networks. Volume 35 brings together papers related to a variety of topics in small groups and organizational research. The volume includes papers that address theoretical and empirical issues relating to consumer behavior, vocal accommodation, measuring aggression, social identity theory, and criminal sentencing. Other contributions examine reverse discrimination, perceptions of responsibility for the behaviors of others, and expectations and coordination in small groups. Overall, the volume includes papers that reflect a wide range of theoretical approaches from leading scholars who work in group processes.
Advances in Group Processes: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition (Advances in Group Processes #35)
by Shane R. Thye Edward J. LawlerAdvances in Group Processes publishes theoretical analyses, reviews, and theory-based empirical chapters on group phenomena. The series adopts a broad conception of "group processes." This includes work on groups ranging from the very small to the very large, and on classic and contemporary topics such as status, power, trust, justice, social influence, identity, decision-making, intergroup relations, and social networks. Volume 35 brings together papers related to a variety of topics in small groups and organizational research. The volume includes papers that address theoretical and empirical issues relating to consumer behavior, vocal accommodation, measuring aggression, social identity theory, and criminal sentencing. Other contributions examine reverse discrimination, perceptions of responsibility for the behaviors of others, and expectations and coordination in small groups. Overall, the volume includes papers that reflect a wide range of theoretical approaches from leading scholars who work in group processes.
Urban Ethnography: Legacies and Challenges (Research in Urban Sociology #16)
by Richard E. OcejoUrban ethnography has produced some of the most influential and memorable studies in sociology since the discipline's founding. Showcasing the ideas, analysis, and perspectives of experts in the method conducting research on a wide array of social phenomena in a variety of city contexts, this volume provides a look at the legacies of urban ethnography's methodological traditions and some of the challenges its practitioners face today. This volume considers the ongoing influence of esteemed scholars in the famed 'Chicago School' in teaching ethnography and mentoring young ethnographers. In doing this it addresses the numerous definitions of space and place that ethnographers grapple with, considers the social and spatial locations in which research is conducted, and examines the intertwined forms of social identity that shape the relationships that scholars form in the field, as well as the data they produce. In addition to these themes, the authors in this volume also consider the importance of taking a global perspective when conducting local fieldwork, and of taking an intersectional approach to reflexivity and analysis. Mixing self-reflection, practical guidance, theoretical engagement, empirical analysis, and even humor, the chapter authors offer a large slice of what ethnography has to offer for understanding the global urban world.
Urban Ethnography: Legacies and Challenges (Research in Urban Sociology #16)
by Richard E. OcejoUrban ethnography has produced some of the most influential and memorable studies in sociology since the discipline's founding. Showcasing the ideas, analysis, and perspectives of experts in the method conducting research on a wide array of social phenomena in a variety of city contexts, this volume provides a look at the legacies of urban ethnography's methodological traditions and some of the challenges its practitioners face today. This volume considers the ongoing influence of esteemed scholars in the famed 'Chicago School' in teaching ethnography and mentoring young ethnographers. In doing this it addresses the numerous definitions of space and place that ethnographers grapple with, considers the social and spatial locations in which research is conducted, and examines the intertwined forms of social identity that shape the relationships that scholars form in the field, as well as the data they produce. In addition to these themes, the authors in this volume also consider the importance of taking a global perspective when conducting local fieldwork, and of taking an intersectional approach to reflexivity and analysis. Mixing self-reflection, practical guidance, theoretical engagement, empirical analysis, and even humor, the chapter authors offer a large slice of what ethnography has to offer for understanding the global urban world.
Individualism, Holism and the Central Dilemma of Sociological Theory
by Jiří ŠubrtIndividualism and holism, the concepts embedded in the title of this book, represent two key theoretical perspectives that have for many decades steered and shaped sociological thought. For over a century these two interpretative perspectives have also divided sociological theory into two camps, accompanied by a band of scholars trying to bridge this dualism. According to American sociologist Jeffrey C. Alexander, individualist theories derive their appeal and strength from their underlying assumption that humans make decisions as individual, free, autonomous, and rationally and morally consistent beings. A related belief is that they are able to express these qualities in their actions regardless of the situation in society or what economic or moral conditions prevail. Holistic, or collectivist, theories, unlike individualism, assign primacy to social entities. This perspective is important because it creates the basic precondition through which entities can become the subject of deliberate sociological analysis. However, there is a price for fulfilling this precondition. The emphasis it places on the collective, and on larger entities, logically means that the individual will and free human decision-making tends to be lost from the field of view. This book argues that these two perspectives, individualist and holistic, form the central dilemma of sociological thought. It provides an extensive review and critique of contemporary sociological approaches to this antinomy and examines attempts that have been made to overcome it and unite them. Moreover, the book proposes a new approach to solving this dilemma via the concept of 'critical reconfigurationism', arguing that the resolution of this dilemma is vital not just for sociological theory but also for empirical social research.
Individualism, Holism and the Central Dilemma of Sociological Theory
by Jiří ŠubrtIndividualism and holism, the concepts embedded in the title of this book, represent two key theoretical perspectives that have for many decades steered and shaped sociological thought. For over a century these two interpretative perspectives have also divided sociological theory into two camps, accompanied by a band of scholars trying to bridge this dualism. According to American sociologist Jeffrey C. Alexander, individualist theories derive their appeal and strength from their underlying assumption that humans make decisions as individual, free, autonomous, and rationally and morally consistent beings. A related belief is that they are able to express these qualities in their actions regardless of the situation in society or what economic or moral conditions prevail. Holistic, or collectivist, theories, unlike individualism, assign primacy to social entities. This perspective is important because it creates the basic precondition through which entities can become the subject of deliberate sociological analysis. However, there is a price for fulfilling this precondition. The emphasis it places on the collective, and on larger entities, logically means that the individual will and free human decision-making tends to be lost from the field of view. This book argues that these two perspectives, individualist and holistic, form the central dilemma of sociological thought. It provides an extensive review and critique of contemporary sociological approaches to this antinomy and examines attempts that have been made to overcome it and unite them. Moreover, the book proposes a new approach to solving this dilemma via the concept of 'critical reconfigurationism', arguing that the resolution of this dilemma is vital not just for sociological theory but also for empirical social research.