Genetic structuralism, psychological sociology and pragmatic social actor theory, Proposals for a convergence of French sociologies

This paper would like to show that Wittgenstein and Freud have exerted a considerable - though narrow - influence on Bourdieu's sociology. But they also pervade the theoretical development of two other currents, which have emerged in French Sociology in the last few years, and were developed by L. Boltanski and L. Thevenot, on the one hand, and B. Lahire, on the other. Although they do not make it explicit, the advocates of these two currents have nevertheless been influenced by Wittgenstein and Freud. Thus Boltanski has drawn on Wittgenstein to develop a sociology which gives primacy to the social actor's interpretation of his or her situation through lay theorising. Lahire's work clearly pays a debt to Freud with his psychological sociology. It would therefore be interesting, in the first instance, to tease out how Wittgenstein and Freud, respectively, have influenced these two systems to demonstrate that they can indeed be used to generate new sociological currents, other than Bourdieu's own. This would then allow us to explore how they could be used to fill any gaps in Bourdieu's work, thus giving the latter renewed relevance and staunching its stagnating tendencies. But, ultimately, this analysis aims to show how Wittgenstein’s and Freud's theoretical influences can lead the way towards a theoretical synthesis between Bourdieu's critical sociology, Boltanski's social actor theory and Lahire's psychological sociology. Currently, these three currents operate independently of each other, without any kind of dialogue. And yet, far from being incompatible, these sociologies offer opportunities for exploring how they might complement each other and for mutual enrichment.