Morphogenic Society and the Structure of Social Relations

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to understand how the morphogenesis of society comes about through social relations, which are the connectors that mediate between agency and social structure. The generative mechanism that feeds social morphogenesis resides in the dynamic of the social relations networks that alter the social molecule constituting structures already in place. Social morphogenesis is a form of surplus of society with respect to itself. This surplus is produced through the relationality that agents/actors create in their interactions. We need a general theory of social relations that is able to show how the molecular structure of social relations in different contexts is altered. The morphogenetic surplus does not derive from structural effects as much as it is generated by 'emergent relational effects'. Society increases (or decreases) its potential for surplus depending on processes of valorization (or devalorization) of social relations. Examples are given with reference to the crisis of the typically modern societal arrangements (lib/lab) and the birth of an after-modern society.

Is the family really an outdated institution in Italy as well as in Europe? Findings from the European Values Study

“…Following the deep changes in the family, it is logical to wonder whether the family is an institution of the past or one which still has a future (Bengtson et al 2002, Bramlet and Mosher 2002, Casper and Bianchi 2002, Donati 2010, 2014.…”

“…In the attempt to answer this question, some scholars who reject individualisation as an interpretative criterion have tried to sketch a more thorough and sophisticated way of conceptualising and representing family life and, at the same time, find new ways to capture the multidimensionality of relationships by valuing the concept of relationality as opposed to the dominant individualistic interpretation (Smart 2007, Morgan 1996, Finch and Mason 1993, Carsten 2000, Gillis 1996, Chapman and Hockey 1999, Miller 1998, Donati 2011a.…”

“…These illustrate the ongoing differentiation processes in contemporary societies, such as the attempt to set one's living arrangements (morphostasis), though these must always be examined in the light of criteria confirming that a morphogenesis is taking place (Donati 2006(Donati , 2011a(Donati , 2011b(Donati , 2013(Donati , 2014. The relational hypothesis is that the family has a pattern, a latent structure consisting of fathermother-child, an unchanging nucleus without which it would lose its identity.…”

Generative Mechanisms Transforming the Social Order

“…In order to understand how this can happen, it is necessary to see feedback not as an automatic mechanism of a binary type (as in a thermostat), but as a relation that can be steered by a many-valued and transjunctive logic. 9 Reacting to a we-relation (the initial R, and then the subsequent Rn when those involved continue to orient themselves towards the 'we' in question) can happen in different modes that are not a 'calculus' or a 'melange' of different possible choices, but a restructuring of the previous werelation , by changing, for example, their mutual expectations or any of the elements and relations that form the structure of that we-relation (Donati 2014 ). Relational feedback is a second order, non-automatic, generative mechanism that operates on a previous werelation.…”

Lifelines

“…Just as interactions take place in a relational context, social relations themselves are embedded in a structural and cultural context. How reciprocity is enacted then, and what it entails, will depend on the nature of the relationship, the form of social relation and the social and cultural context in which it is rooted (Donati 2014). The conditioning influence of the structural/cultural context works through shaping the situations of social relations and social actors; for example, influencing the accessibility of resources or the prevalence of beliefs that shape the relations in which people find themselves.…”