Which Sort of Relation Is a Reaction? Relational Sociology and Reaction Research

Somewhere midway between subjectivism and objectivism, instances and occurrences of ‘reaction’ seem to question in manifold ways the paradigm of the rationality of action. In some cases, rationality is perverted from within, due to a tendency to overdo (overreact etc.), which can be evinced from hyperrational positions; in other cases, rationality is subverted from without, due to some stubbornness intrinsic to the social logic of relations. In short, reaction inherently raises a problem of measure that is hard to tackle both empirically and theoretically. Here, we interrogate reaction by attempting to fine-tune the notion of receptivity. Reception refers to the relationship between social action and the situated, cultural responses it provokes from people (in their multiple roles as viewers, audiences, adversaries, partners, stakeholders, etc.)—responses which actually constitute a continuous series of feedbacks and counteractions that matter a lot for what social actions eventually turn out to be. Through reception, we submit, it becomes perhaps possible to enlarge the study of social relations to include the non-symbolic, indexical, and intensive aspects and states of social life.