Theorizing theory: Invitation to a broader conversation about ‘theory’ in sociology

Abstract

Theory' is a seminal term in sociology. Sociologists tend to ask that articles, chapters and monographs are 'theoretical', 'develop theory' or 'make a theoretical contribution'. Yet, as demonstrated in Gabriel Abend's 2008 article 'The Meaning of 'Theory', it is generally unclear what sociologists mean when they talk about theory. Abend distinguishes seven different meanings sociologists tend to impute to 'theory' and argues that no single definition can usefully capture these substantively different meanings. Counter to Abend, we propose and defend a minimal and versatile theory of theory, which does capture the important common denominators in sociologists' various uses of the term theory. The major strengths of our proposal are that it enables informed and synthetic discussion and fosters reflexivity about differences and similarities between different types of theory.Our minimal theory of theory thus serves as an invitation to a broader conversation about theory in sociology.

Theories and theorizing in public administration: A systematic review

“…In an attempt to extract the various meanings of theory from the multiple uses of this notion in the literature, Abend (2008) finds no less than seven profoundly different kinds of meaning content. Recently, Rasmussen and Johannessen (2023) revisited and reviewed these meanings, suggesting that they do have common ground, given in the following definition: “A theory is a set of assumptions about one or several phenomena” (p. 3). We adopted this minimal notion of theory and deliberately left any further specification in this broad range of possible meanings to the authors who published in the selected journals.…”

Teoria-menetelmäpaketit laadullisessa sosiaalitutkimuksessa

“…Sosiaalitieteelliset teoriat pikemminkin yhdistyvät kriisejä tuottaviin ja uusintaviin ajattelutapoihin, kuten globaaleille valtakysymyksille sokeaan nurkkakuntaisuuteen ja metodologiseen nationalismiin. (Braidotti 2017;Bennett 2010;Gago 2020;Go 2016;Hironaka 2014;Lehtimäki & Virtanen 2023;Nash 2019;Puar 2007;Rasmussen & Fagernes Johannessen 2023;Vergès 2021. ) Uudenlaiset lähestymistavat nousevat taustasta, jossa on paljon yhtymäkohtia varhaisempaan, antropologiasta lähtöisin olevaan refleksiivisyyskeskusteluun, joskin ympäristökysymys ja nykyisten poliittisten liikkeiden erityispiirteet tuovat siihen tärkeän lisänsä.…”