Lecture 1: Concepts
September 28, 2010
Theoretical Framework
From Connelly et al:
 “A framework is a system of ideas or conceptual structures that
help us “see” the social world, understand it, explain it, and
change it. A framework guides our thinking, research, and action.
It provides us with a systematic way of examining social issues
and providing recommendations for change.
Connelly et al (2)
 A framework consists of basic assumptions
about the nature of the social world and how it
works and about the nature of people and how
they act. For example, some people assume
that society is basically harmonious and that
harmony results from a set of shared values.
Others assume that society is in conflict and
that conflict is rooted in class, race, and
gender struggles over power and access to
and control over resources.”
Why are there so many frameworks?
 Historical change (relationship between
theory and history)
 Differences in Social context
 Different lived experiences
 Different agendas of change, different
problems
Frameworks: Mainstream and
Critical
Robert W. Cox describes the difference between
problem-solving and critical theory in this way:
"[problem solving theory] takes the world as it
finds it, with the prevailing social and power
relationships and the institutions into which they
are organized, as the given framework for action.
The general aim of problem solving is to make
these relationships and institutions work
smoothly..”
Critical theory
"stands apart from the prevailing order of the
world and asks how that order came about.
Critical theory ... does not take institutions
and social power relations for granted but
calls them into question by concerning itself
with their origins and how and whether they
might be in the process of changing.
Central Concepts
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Structures; structure and agency
State formations
social relations
Political economy and Production;
Inequality & Difference (class, gender,
race)
Culture and identity
What are structures?
“Persistent social practices made by
collective human activity and transformed
by collective human activity”.. (Cox)
Structures
structures comprise of
 Norms and values
 Institutions
 Behaviour patterns (individual and
collective)
Structures are engendered through a
historical process – hence the term
historical structures
Structures
Are historically engendered
Ideas
Material
Capabilities
Institutions
Historical structures
Consist of 3 dimensions (from Cox)
Social Forces
Forms of state
World Orders
Agency
 “Agency is the ability to identify objectives for
change and act and bring about change”,
Amartya Sen in Development as Freedom,
1997. Sen is Nobel Prize winning economist.
Read about him here.
 Agency is the ability to define ones goals and act
upon them, even in the face of opposition. This
action brings about a transformation from
disempowerment to empowerment (Based on
Naila Kabeer 1999:438). Kabeer is a feminist
development theorist. Read about her here
Types of agency
 Individual
 Collective
 Institutions
Can you give examples?
Let us watch a short video on Kerala, India
Kudumbashree: a women’s
movement
http://www.youtube.com/womenandchange
Different frameworks for undertsanding
the State
 What is the state? an organized political
community occupying a definite territory,
having an organized government, and
possessing internal and external
sovereignty
 Three understandings of the state:
 Liberal, institutionalist, critical
Liberal
the state’s role is to protect life, liberty
and property.
Best performed by a liberal democracy
Institutionalist
 State’s function is to fill gaps that individual
and market actions create
 Distribution; welfare; public services
 welfare state (what is it? Is Canada a
welfare state)
Critical theory of the state
 Critical theory will distinguish
between what we want the state to
be (normative) and what the realexisting state is
 State is a site of power
 Reflects existing social relations,
power relations
 State is not equal to government