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Réflexions sur la réflexivité en sociologie

département de sociologie de l'Université de Montréal,jacques.hamel{at}umontreal.ca

English

This article considers the reflexivity that arises from the "individualization of social life," which is the result of changes in current societies and which, for example, forces sociology to consider its purpose at a new cost. How exactly is individuality to be defined from this perspective? What status is to be conferred on the statements of individuals who are operating in such a framework? Having defined precisely to what reflexivity corresponds, the author seeks to qualify the theses currently held on this topic, as illustrated by the theories of P. Bourdieu and A. Giddens, which provide an opportunity to conceive of common sense as practical knowledge and individuality as the mediation required to attain the social. The reflexivity of sociology is finally addressed in order to show that today, sociological knowledge fuels the practical knowledge that individuals mobilize to make sense, at their own level, of what they are and what they do.

French

Cet article envisage la réflexivité surgie de l "individualisation de la vie sociale" née des mutations des sociétés actuelles et qui, par exemple, oblige la sociologie à concevoir son objet à nouveaux frais. Comment définir exactement l’individualité dans cette perspective? Quel statut conférer aux propos des individus qui évoluent dans ce cadre? Après avoir cerné ce à quoi correspond exactement la réflexivité, l’auteur cherche à nuancer les thèses en vogue sur le sujet en prenant pour illustration les théories de P. Bourdieu et d’A. Giddens qui lui permettent de concevoir le sens commun comme connaissance pratique et l’individualité comme médiation obligée pour atteindre le social. La réflexivité de la sociologie est finalement abordée afin de montrer que, de nos jours, la connaissance sociologique alimente la connaissance pratique que mobilisent les individus pour, à leur niveau, rendre raison de ce qu’ils sont et de ce qu’ils font.

Key Words: Individualization of social life • Reflexivity • Theory of sociology

Social Science Information, Vol. 46, No. 3, 471-485 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0539018407079727


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