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This article presents a relational criticism of the "morphogenetic theory" of M. Archer. This theory is founded and representative of the most influential mode of perception of the social universe of the last few decades: co-determinism (structure [Lef-right arrow] agency). Co-determinism's influence can be explained by its integration of modern general presuppositions like freedom, individualism, and the quest for a new social order. By identifying five basic principles of relational sociology, we see that Archer's co-deterministic theory offers a complicated solution to avoid voluntarism and co-determinism, limits the potential of sociological imagination, cannot adequately see the fluidity of social processes, produces a certain reification of social structures and agency, and is based on an inconsistent use of egocentric and relational perspectives. These problems can be avoided if we use a relational approach (actor [Lef-right arrow] actor [implies] structures) based on the study of complex and empirical trans-actions.
Sociology has been strongly influenced by two modes of perception of the social universe over the last two or three decades: co-determinism and relationism. The most influential is co-determinism. In contemporary sociology, this refers to the works of well-known social scientists such as M. Archer (1982, 1995, 200Oa, 200Ob, 2003), R. Bhaskar (1998), P. Berger and T. Luckmann (1967), P. Bourdieu (1977, 1984, 199Oa, 199Ob), A. Giddens (1979, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1993), CW. Mills [1959] 2000, and N. Mouzelis (1989, 1993, 1995, 2000). In the first part of this article, we will discuss that in one way or another, co-determinism explains social phenomena as the effects of inter-actions between agency and social structures. We will also briefly explain that the influence of co-determinism can be explained by some modern "general presuppositions"-partly composed by "ideological assumptions" (Alexander 1982)such as the paradoxical need for some individual freedom and a stable social order. Despite their cultural affinities with modernity, various co-deterministic theories have generated many debates and disagreements in sociology. Generally speaking, these problems refer to questions like: How much respective power should we recognize in social structures and agency? Are we dealing with separated or intertwined "properties"? What is the source of agency if constraining/enabling structures impose themselves on social actors before they act? Does agency come from individuals? Rational individuals? Is agency related to the effort of...