A SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY TO ANALYZE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS: MARGARET ARCHER’S MORPHOGENETIC APPROACH

A SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY TO ANALYZE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS: MARGARET ARCHER’S MORPHOGENETIC APPROACH

UNA TEORÍA SOCIOLÓGICA PARA ANALIZAR LOS SISTEMAS EDUCACIONAES: EL ENFOQUE MORFOGENÉTICO DE MARGARET S. ARCHER

This contribution has a mainly theoretical objective: to present the generalguidelines of Archer’s morphogenetic theory. In Argentina, this theory has beenpoorly developed by sociologists of education, therefore it does not apply to localeducational research. Archer defi nes her morphogenetic approach as a practical,macro-sociological theory pursuing historical-comparative purposes. Unlike thetheorists of objectivism and subjectivism in any of its versions, Archer attempts toexplain educational change by working on the basis of two fundamental postulates:i) the recovery of agency and structure as two independent categories, that cannotbe “confl ated” in any way, and have similar importance in the conformation of bothobjective reality and subjective identity; ii) the incorporation of time as a crucialvariable in the process of systemic change. Reference is made to some key issues:Archer’s position on classical sociology, her adherence to “Critical Realism”, somecategories of analysis, and methodological imperatives of the morphogeneticapproach. The conclusion is an invitation to meet the challenge of put forward aresearch program using this theoretical framework.

El objetivo de esta contribución es fundamentalmente teórico: presentar los lineamientos generales de la teoría morfogenética de Archer. En Argentina, esta teoría ha sido escasamente desarrollada por los sociólogos de la educación, y por ende, no se aplica en la investigación educativa local. Archer define su enfoque morfogenético como una teoría práctica, de carácter macro-sociológico y propósitos histórico-comparativos. A diferencia de los teóricos del objetivismo y el subjetivismo en cualquiera de sus versiones, Archer intenta explicar el cambio educacional operando sobre la base de dos postulados fundamentales: i) la recuperación de la agencia y la estructura como dos categorías independientes, con sus propias características, que no se pueden conflacionar de ninguna manera, y tienen pareja importancia en la conformación tanto de la realidad objetiva como de la identidad subjetiva; y ii) la incorporación del tiempo como una variable crucial en el proceso de cambio sistémico. Se abordan algunas cuestiones clave: el posicionamiento de Archer respecto de la sociología clásica, su adhesión a la teoría social realista (Critical realism), algunas categorías de análisis del enfoque morfogenético y sus imperativos metodológicos. La conclusión es una invitación a enfrentar el desafío de plantear un programa de investigación desde este marco teórico.ABSTRACTThis contribution has a mainly theoretical objective: to present the general guidelines of Archer’s morphogenetic theory. In Argentina, this theory has been poorly developed by sociologists of education, therefore it does not apply to local educational research. Archer defines her morphogenetic approach as a practical, macro-sociological theory pursuing historical-comparative purposes. Unlike the theorists of objectivism and subjectivism in any of its versions, Archer attempts to explain educational change by working on the basis of two fundamental postulates: i) the recovery of agency and structure as two independent categories, that cannot be “conflated” in any way, and have similar importance in the conformation of both objective reality and subjective identity; ii) the incorporation of time as a crucial variable in the process of systemic change. Reference is made to some key issues: Archer’s position on classical sociology, her adherence to “Critical Realism”, some categories of analysis, and methodological imperatives of the morphogenetic approach. The conclusion is an invitation to meet the challenge of put forward a research program using this theoretical framework.Keywords: M. Archer; morphogenetic appoach; educational sytems.

BRÍGIDO, Ana María

Derechos de autor 2017 Revista CUADERNOS FHyCS-UNJu / Open Journal System

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