Networks, interactions and relations

Nick Crossley

pp. 481-498

in: François Dépelteau (ed), The Palgrave handbook of relational sociology, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Abstract

As this book shows there are many varieties of relational sociology. In this chapter I outline the approach that I have been cultivating in recent years briefly sketching certain central claims of that approach whilst also developing a few new strands. Specifically I want to: (1) further open up the philosophical underpinnings of my approach; (2) consider some of the mediations which extend social interactions and relations through time and space; (3) stress the need for relational theory to be complemented by relational methodologies (and empirical research); and (4) consider briefly what this might entail. The chapter tackles each of these aims in turn. I begin, however, with a summary of the central claims of my approach.