The Problem of Sociological Narrative: Twists and Turns of a Crossroads

Abstract

An old spectre once again haunts the sociological discipline: its crisis. Without intending to exacerbate it, this article offers a reflection on how a crisis of narration —and especially a crisis of sociological narrative— is conceived, imagined, and posited, and how others have responded through their practice to revalue the power of stories and narratives. Through a back-and-forth analysis, the aim is to understand the current crossroads of sociology and its processes of transformation. To this end, the works of

Walter Benjamin and Hannah Arendt, Andrew Abbott and Arlie Hochschild, as well as José Joaquín Brunner’s work, are brought into dialogue in light of the development of the sociological discipline in Chile. Through these works, I delve into the meaning of a narrative crisis, a crisis of narrative explanation and of the sociological discipline itself, and how it is pos sible to imagine ways to transform, reconfigure, and overturn these stories speaking of an imminent end.