Figurace – jaké možnosti a problémy jsou s tímto sociologickým konceptem spojeny

This paper focuses on the concept of figuration, which was an innovation of Norbert Elias, from the standpoint of sociological theory. Among today’s followers of this approach to sociology, considerable emphasis is placed on the explanatory potential of this concept, reflected, among other things, in Elias’s processual approach to the investigation and explanation of social reality being referred to as “sociology of figurations” (Figurationsoziologie). The author of this contribution considers the content of the concept in a systematic way to present its strengths and weaknesses. This is done by confronting figuration with the dilemmas and antinomies that sociological thinking traditionally encounters, assessing it from the perspective of: a) positivism and antipositivism, b) statics and dynamics, c) individualism and holism, d) consensus and conflict, e) micro and macro perspectives, f) the relationship between spirit and matter, g) social masses and great historical personalities. The contribution concludes by stating the necessity to additionally think about discussions and aspects of the concept of figuration that its creator did not catch or clarify sufficiently.