Contextualising the self in contemporary social science

Charalambos Tsekeris

Contemporary Social Science, 2015, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: This special issue of Contemporary Social Science provides a variety of perspectives on current thinking on the nature of the self within a sociocultural context. These viewpoints show the self to be, paradoxically, both autonomous and interdependent. It is reflexively open, socially embedded and interactively created. This leads to the proposal that the self is a relational not a metaphysical or essential entity. The present paper, therefore, summarises various developments in current social science thought which explore the dynamic, relational and nonlinear understanding of the self. These mainly involve the consideration of the complex links between agents and structures. The critical interrogation of these links, starting from an agent-based systems perspective, highlights the contextual and dialectic emergence of the self in contemporary society. This provides a fresh interdisciplinary framework for understanding the complex dynamics of both the self and society which has practical implications.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1010340

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