The back of the sociological subject

Abstract

This article addresses the collective subject as devised in Alain Touraine’s “sociology of action,” where the subject is equated to the social movement arising out of social conflict. I contrast this conception with that of Jacques Lacan, which develops what I contend is the “reverse” of Touraine’s sociological subject, namely, the “subject of the unconscious.” Although this is a completely unique and singular subject it is nevertheless deeply social because the elements of its constitution come from the Other, from the symbolic register, which is that of language and culture. By contrasting Lacan’s and Touraine’s perspectives I aim to show the limits of the sociological discourse on the subject, that is to say, its failure to constitute a proper subject of societal processes.