
Contents
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Networks and Theory Networks and Theory
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Action Theory and Social Capital Action Theory and Social Capital
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Social Structures and Individual Action Social Structures and Individual Action
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Social Capital Social Capital
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Pragmatism and Interactionism Pragmatism and Interactionism
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Relational Sociology Relational Sociology
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Social Networks and Meaning Social Networks and Meaning
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Extensions Extensions
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Conclusion Conclusion
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Notes Notes
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References References
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3 Theories of Social Networks
Get accessJan Fuhse is currently a Replacement Professor of Sociology at the University of Passau, Germany. After receiving his PhD in Sociology from Universität Stuttgart (Germany) in 2007, he completed a postdoc at Columbia University in 2007–2008. From 2009 to 2013, he was an Assistant Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Bielefeld, completing his Habilitation in 2011. From 2013 to 2018 he had a research fellowship at Humboldt University of Berlin. Fuhse’s research focuses on communication and meaning in social networks, on social networks in inequality, on interethnic relations, and on constellations in political discourse.
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Published:15 December 2020
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Abstract
Theories of social networks offer abstract perspectives of what social networks are and how they are connected to other features of the social world. This chapter gives an overview of three recent perspectives: (1) Theorists of action (Burt, Coleman, Lin, Hedström) regard social networks as objective structures restricting or enabling individual action. Networks become a resource (social capital) that actors strive to maximize. (2) Authors following pragmatism or symbolic interactionism (Emirbayer, Martin, Crossley) consider social networks as patterns of subjective meaning arising out of the interaction between actors. This approach is linked to field theoretical thinking, considering networks as arising out of the mutual orientation in fields. (3) Relational sociologists (White, Tilly, Mische, Padgett, Fuhse) treat social networks as infused with meaning that is processed in communication/transaction/switchings between actors. Relational sociology has been amended to study networks of symbols and the communicative dynamics of social networks.
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