Genealogical, Intellectual, and Historical Milieu of the Paradigm
Theorists
Leslie White
The start of the 20th century gave rise to numerous philosophical theories. For instance, neo-evolutionism offered a set of laws linking cultural change to various shapes of material existence (“Neoevolutionism,” n.d.). Leslie White was one of the significant theorists of the given paradigm who offered his concept of culture as an organized and integrated system with subsystems (“Neoevolutionism,” n.d.). These included technological, social, and ideological ones (“Neoevolutionism,” n.d.).
Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu is a prominent thinker of practice theory. It emerged in the second half of the 20th century, linking society and culture to structure and individual agency (Rouse, 2007). Bourdieu introduced the concept of the individual agent’s practice (Rouse, 2007). It is essential for understanding culture and its impact on society.
Max Weber
Finally, interpretive sociology is a paradigm developed by several scientists, including Max Weber. It implies that people construct reality in accordance with their understanding of this concept (Bevir & Rhodes, 2002). He introduced the central concept of comprehending the level of meaning (Bevir & Rhodes, 2002). It became the central notion for the further development of the paradigm.
Theories
Thus, the emergence of neo-evolutionism, as well as practice theory and interpretation, was not an isolated occurrence. Neo-evolutionism emerged as society’s attempt to find new meanings rather than the old Marxist sociology (“Neoevolutionism,” n.d.). Second, practice theory emerged at the end of the 20th century as social scientists’ attempt to understand human nature (Rouse, 2007). Finally, interpretive sociology grew from the attempts to interpret reality differently from past attempts.
How Theoretical Concepts Fit in the Overall Theory
Altogether, all the discussed concepts fit the theory in which they were generated. Neo-evolutionism evolved from the attempt to challenge the dominant thought of the past century. The practice and interpretive theories evolved from the set of theories aimed at understanding human nature, culture, and how people shape reality. Concepts such as culture, agency, and the interpretation of reality are integral to the broader field, enabling the evaluation and investigation of reality from new perspectives.
References
Bevir, M., & Rhodes, M. (2002). Interpretive theory. Theory and Methods in Political Science.
Neoevolutionism. (n.d.). Minnesota State University.
Rouse, J. (2007). Practice theory. Arts and Humanities.