Il concetto di "confine" nella tradizione sociologica

The main purpose of the article is to analyze the possibility to use the concept of “border” as a general point of reference for reconstructing fundamental evolutive trends in sociological thought. As a matter of fact the evolution of classic and contemporary sociology seems to be characterized by different ways of exploiting the implicit potentials offered by the concept of borders in terms of orientation and classification. In this context the concept appears essential from a relational point of view because it underlines gradual social connections not encompassed by clear cut dichotomies; from a methodological point of view because it suggests a vast array of instruments able to measure, as the weberian ideal-types, the increasing distance of social phenomena from abstract sociological models; from a theoretical point of view, since it outlines nets of meaningful relations, as the social games, which can be applied through flexible strategies with uncertain outcomes; from a systemic point of view, as it concentrates attention on the basic distinction between system and environment which can be reproduced at different levels in reflexive and circular ways; from a communicative point of view, which refusing universal criteria of evaluation produces an inter-individual logic based on higher or lower degrees of compatibilities within the discourse.