'External' vs. 'Social Constructionist' Models in the Sociology of Knowledge: Alternative or Complementary Approaches?

This paper assesses the relative utilities of two models for examining the relationship between the sociohistorical context and thought—a traditional external approach as exemplified by Coser and a social constructionist approach offered by Scimecca—using Parsons' functionalist theory of social inequality as a test case. Both models are externalist in that they focus on existential influences on thought, and, for this reason, the models are compared as complementary explanations. The remits suggest that each model, due to its unique focus within the larger externalist domain, offers important insights for understanding the links between existential conditions and the process of theorizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]