Homo sociologicus and the Society of Individuals

• Main Author: Jiří Šubrt
• Format: Article
• Language: ces
• Published: Karolinum Press 2017-12-01
• Series: Historicka Sociologie
• Subjects: sociological theory; social role; role playing; actor; structure; function; individualism and holism
• Online Access: http://www.karolinum.cz/doi/10.14712/23363525.2017.36

The present article follows the themes treated in “The Society of Individuals: How to Solve the Dilemma of Individualism and Holism in Historical Sociology” published in the journa Historická sociologie No. 1/2015. Its primary topic is social roles, a theme actively discussed in sociological literature from the 1950s to the 1980s but afterwards largely neglected because the concepts of individual human actors (agents) and their actions (agency) pushed the topic of roles to the sidelines. This article tries to show that despite this intellectual shift, the theme of social roles deserves attention even today, and in particular that the concept of “role playing” can be useful in sociological theory to resolve the seemingly irreconcilable opposition of individualistic and holistic approaches.