Relational reflexivity: a processual approach

Abstract

Reflexivity has become an indispensable concept in the social science toolbox. Also thanks to its polysemy, the concept is helpful for exploring and analysing both epistemological and socio-political issues. The theoretical sociological development of the idea has often fluctuated between two poles. On the one hand, a notion of reflexivity as an individual capacity (often the capacity of the researcher) and linked to the concepts of awareness and agency. On the other, a notion of it as a structural dimension of the “second modernity”. The article explores the advantages of conceiving reflexivity as processual and relational, neither the result of individual will or personal skills nor of external constraints of society. The article supports the usefulness of a dialogic conception of reflexivity which is characterized by its constant elaboration in interaction with others and with contexts.