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The paper proposes a concept of embodied subjectivity in the framework of an existential sociology. Starting from Maurice Merleau-Ponty's existentialist-phenomenological philosophy, I present some questions concerning the subject and the body in the social world. These questions are then discussed with reference to Erving Goffman's sociological theory and the work of Michel Foucault. Through the works of these three authors, a notion of embodied subjectivity is constructed, that is, a concept of subject that takes into consideration the body as a fundamental nexus of social relations. Finally, two directions of a possible existential sociology are explored from the notion of embodied subjectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is the clarification of some key concepts of the methodology of biographical narratives. Despite of the fact that this methodology is widely used, its theoretical underpinnings not yet appear to have been systematically compiled. Accordingly, the objectives of this paper are as follows: [i] develop the method of narrative interview and the method of analysis of biographical narratives created by Fritz Schütze; [ii] clarify some of the theoretical points that this author assumes (as the task of sociology and its object of study) through the concepts of self, society and language; and [iii] explore the influences of the theoretical framework of the phenomenological sociology of Alfred Schutz and compare both authors. Its conclusion is the statement that the phenomenological sociology cannot be considered the only theoretical framework that underlies Schütze's methodology, which points out to new questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the recent literature in the field of social sciences in which the term "South" is regarded as a theoretical, methodological or epistemological alternative to the colonial effects of our disciplines. Analysing the books of Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Reawyn Connell and Jean and John Comaroff it seeks to point out some of their fragilities and possible alternative paths for a sociology beyond the Euro-American tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]