"In some one of its numerous forms, the problem of the unanticipated consequences of purposive action has been treated by virtually every substantial contributor to the long history of social thought [...] Whatever the actual reasons, the fact remains that though the process has been widely recognized and its importance equally appreciated, it still awaits a systematic treatment" (Robert K. Merton, 1936)

Guest Lecturer

Colin Campbell - University of York, UK

PUBLICATION

Adriana Mica, Arkadiusz Peisert, Jan Winczorek (eds.). 2011. Sociology and the Unintended. Robert Merton Revisited. Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien: Peter Lang.

Contents:

Adriana Mica, Arkadiusz Peisert and Jan Winczorek: Introduction

Adriana Mica: Introduction

Raymond Boudon: Individual Reasons as the Causes of Collective Phenomena

Colin Campbell: Limits to Agency: Exploring the Unintended (and Unattended) Consequences of Action

Jean-Pascal Daloz: Elitist Consumption: Revisiting the Question of Utilitarian vs. Symbolic Motives

Piotr Sztompka: Existential Uncertainty and its Remedies. On the Shoulders of Robert K. Merton

Jocelyn Pixley: What about a Sociology of Uncertainty?

Steve Matthewman: Waiting to Happen: The Accident in Sociology

Adriana Mica: How Non-Linear is the Linear Model of Innovation? Treatment of Consequences in Diffusion and Translation Models

Arkadiusz Peisert: Introduction

Mike Zajko: Climate Change and Extreme Weather as Risk and Consequence

Klaus Birkelbach: Teacher Evaluations over the Life Course: Valid Prognosis or Self-fulfilling Prophecy?

Federico Farini: Affectivity, Expertise, and Inequality: Three Foundations of Trust in Education. Reflections on Presuppositions, (Unintended) Consequences, and Possible Alternatives

Francisco Linares: Self-defeating Prophecies and Social Conflict: A Case Study and Some Theoretical Considerations

Klaus Bachmann: Pluralistic Ignorance in Action: The Puzzle of Unintended Consequences during Poland’s Transition to Democracy

Michał Łuczewski: Nation as a Perverse Effect

Jan Winczorek: Introduction

Karl-Dieter Opp: The Beneficial and Unintended Consequences of False Beliefs about Norm Violation. When Is there a «Preventive Effect of Ignorance»?

Jacek Kurczewski: Amending the Amendments: Whether There Are Any Intended Effects of the Law at All?

Jan Winczorek: Why Do Procedures Have Unexpected Outcomes?

Ivo Domingues: Unintended Consequences in Normalization Processes: The Case of Certification of Quality Management Systems in the Social Sector

Mikołaj Pawlak: Unintended Consequences of Institutional Work

Richard Vernon: Foreseeably Unforeseeable Risk: Why Unintended Consequences Matter in Political Theory too.