Coming Together: New Taxonomies for the Analysis of Social Relations |
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| Authors: | Karen A. Cerulo Janet M. Ruane |
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| Affiliation: | Is associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University. Her research interests include communication technologies, identity construction, and symbol systems. Professor Cerulo's articles appear in a wide variety of journals and annuals, including the Annual Review of Sociology;, the American Sociological Review, Social Forces, Sociological Forum, Sociological Inquiry, and Communication Research. She is also the author of Identity Designs: The Sights and Sounds of a Nation (Rose book series of the ASA and the 1996 winner of the ASA Culture Section's Best Book Award), Deciphering Violence: The Cognitive Structure of Right and Wrong (forthcoming 1998, Routledge), and the coauthor of Second Thoughts: Seeing Conventional Wisdom through the Sociological Eye. Is an associate professor of sociology at Montclair State University. She is also the advisor for graduate studies in applied sociology. Professor Ruane's research addresses informal social control techniques and processes. She has published several articles on tolerance as well as on technology's impact on social relations. She is also the author (with K. Cerulo) of Second Thoughts: Seeing Conventional Wisdom through the Sociological Eye;(Pine Forge/Sage). |
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| Abstract: | In previous work, we have noted a certain rigidity in sociology's approach to the topic of social relations (Cerulo 1997; Cerulo and Ruane 1997; Cerulo, Ruane, and Chayko 1992). With few exceptions, literature on the subject dichotomizes social relations with reference to the scope of the interaction (small group versus large group) and the mode by which social actors connect (direct connections versus mediated connections). Further, many researchers implicitly rank the social value of each relational form. Sociologists typically identify a society's primary and most valuable relations as the result of direct, physically copresent exchange, exchange involving relatively few interactants. In contrast, secondary relations often are characterized as faceless, impersonal, ingenuous, and fleeting–the result of large-group exchange established via mediated or mechanized connections. Cerulo (1997) suggested the need to reformulate any definition of social relations built upon the small group/large group or the direct/mediated dichotomies. She presented several critical elements upon which new definitions could be built. In this piece, we configure those elements, building six new analytic taxonomies–tools we hope will provoke a richer discussion of connecting, interacting, and resulting forms of social relations. |
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