Individui e scelte: un esame critico di alcuni concetti dell'analisi sociologica contemporanea

Individualisation and choice: A critical examination of some current concepts in sociological analysis ABSTRACT: In this paper, the authors seek to explore a tendency in current sociological thought to highlight notions of choice and autonomy in writings about contemporary Western societies. Their purpose is to demonstrate how empirical research is able to provide other ways of theorising than the individualisation one. It’s essential that the research takes account of the complexity and diversity of people’s lives through the lens of the agency-structure dynamic and the relationship between biography and history. Brannen and Nilsen wish to draw attention to some of the consequences of leaving out discussions of the structural aspects of societies and people’s lives, for individuals as well as for the development and application of sociological theory and its ability to understand the connection between history and individual biography. For the authors, the domination of the concept of individualisation in sociological theory causes many misunderstandings because to ignore the structure is to ignore the possibility of inequalities and differences in resources which are systemic and systematic rather than individual and random. It’s to say, the individualisation theory emphasises the agency side of the classical sociological dynamic the individual and society link and downplays structure. Consequently, discussing about how people construct their life course trajectories, how they make choices, the individualisation route stresses the individual agency power without arguing the structure conditions. The discussion is based on qualitative research that the authors have conducted in recent years, and draws on focus groups with young people in Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Ireland and Portugal. From this critique, the two authors seek to demonstrate how concepts that take account of context and structure as well individual subjectivities can create a better ‘fit’ with complex and diverse realties.

Julia Brannen, Ann Nilsen, Individui e scelte: un esame critico di alcuni concetti dell'analisi sociologica contemporanea in "SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI" 2/2007, pp 77-95, DOI: