Meaning, definition of the social and representations: a reinterpretation of the proposals by Giddens, Bourdieu, Habermas and Luhmann

Abstract

This article draws upon the issue of meaning and representations in the perspectives by Giddens, Bourdieu, Habermas and Luhmann, with the aim of making a reinterpretation of the scope and limitations of their claim to reconfigure contemporary sociological theory. To this purpose, three theoretical-analytical levels are analyzed: first, the “shift in meaning” proposed by the four authors, with its dimensions of contingency, temporality, everyday life, consciousness and the body; second, their definitions of the social sphere, with its dimensions of domination and communication; and third, their proposals about social representations, with their discursive (linked to significance) and symbolic dimensions (in-keeping with discourse). Each perspective establishes different relationships between these levels and their dimensions (of oscillation, indecision or predominance of some of them over the others), a fact which enables us to assess the shortcomings of these crucial perspectives.