Open AccessRelations-In-Process: In Honour of François Depelteau
Author(s) -
Nick Crossley
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
digit.hvm
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.159
H-Index - 3
ISSN - 1575-2275
DOI - 10.7238/d.v0i26.374139
Subject(s) - honour , relation (database) , process (computing) , sociology , epistemology , context (archaeology) , state (computer science) , isolation (microbiology) , computer science , law , philosophy , political science , history , microbiology and biotechnology , archaeology , algorithm , database , biology , operating system
In this paper, reflecting the twin interests of François Dépelteau, I draw together the themes of ‘relationality’ and ‘process’. Having argued that the concept of ‘relations’ is central to sociology (and a fortiori ‘relational’ sociology), I discuss some of the problems associated with the concept. In this context I propose a processual conception. A social relation, I argue, is the ‘state of play’ in an interaction history between two actors and, as such, is always ‘in process’. Relations do not exist in isolation, however. They concatenate in complex networks, which are themselves always ‘in process’. The later sections of the paper discuss such networks and the mechanisms which drive their evolution across time.