The thesis of methodological individualism in social science is commonly divided into two different claims – explanatory individualism and ontological individualism. Ontological individualism is the thesis that facts about individuals exhaustively determine social facts. Initially taken to be a claim about the identity of groups with sets of individuals or their properties, ontological individu...

This article addresses the social and historical relation between Chicago School neo-liberalism and contemporary racism, and its connections with the formations of racism in classical liberalism and its colonial character. I show the pragmatic and discursive operations of neo-racism in the context of this shift to a neo-liberal discourse, drawing particularly on Michel Foucault’s seminars, Soci...

We develop a dynamic model of sustainable competitive advantage in hypercompetitive environments. We argue that competitive advantages of firms can be sustainable even if resource-based advantages of firms can be quickly replicated by rivals or when the barriers to entry are almost non-existent. This is accomplished through intensive entrepreneurial activity of firms during the equilibrating te...

1. When customers call in, their orders and credit card information are received by the customer service department. 2. Once the order is received, the order details and credit card information is sent to the Finance department for processing. 3. If the credit card authorization is unsuccessful, then the Finance department sends a “rejection” notification to the Customer Service department. 4. ...

In ecommerce, many market followers would like to have personalization systems in place to more effectively compete with market leaders. However, retailers face a significant challenge in forming initial trust with new customers, especially when the new customers are culturally diverse. Acknowledging this dilemma, this study examines the moderating cultural effects of espoused individualism/col...

This essay is concerned about how to evaluate positive theories on Latin American development. Its content is nested in a broader discussion on theoretical decay and theoretical progress by using Imre Lakatos’ approach of sophisticated falsificationism. The main argument states that theory driven research on Latin American development provides further evidence to the assumption that methodologi...

This paper investigates the systemic nature of methodological individualism. According to widespread belief, the notion of autonomy of the actor that is defended by methodological individualism is mistaken because it is incompatible with the study of society in terms of its organized structure. We argue that this viewpoint must be rejected. In our opinion, it stems from confusion between ontolo...

The author explores the relationship between rationality, ethics, and space. He argues that the contemporary ethical project involves a derationalisation of ethics through a recorporealisation of space. There is a move away from the abstract space of liberal ^ individualist notions of justice to more enclosed and local spaces of communitarian loyalties and intersubjective communication. Postmod...

Various authors allege that the theory of group selection is inconsistent with methodological individualism, and therefore analysts must reject at least one of these principles. The present article argues for their compatibility. The meaning of methodological individualism is clarified, and the new version of group selection (articulated by Wilson and Sober (1994, 1998)) is explained. The two p...

I propose a reinterpretation of Peirce’s theory of pragmaticism which sees it to cater a general methodological approach, as well as a historical counterpoint, to a multiplicity of issues arising in contemporary social and behavioural sciences. This interpretation deflects methodological individualism but integrates co-evolution, abduction and triadic forms of emergence into it. It follows that...