The social site approach versus the approach of discourse/practice formations

Abstract: For many years praxeological approaches have been gaining increasing prominence in sociological discourse. A number of different approaches are viewed as the cornerstones of this sociological perspective, including Giddens' structuration theory, Foucault's concept of technologies of the self or Bourdieu's outline of a theory of practice. On the basis of these and other approaches a multitude of theoretical and empirical studies have been created which focus on the specific concept of social practice (soziale Praktik). In the sociological theory debate, Andreas Reckwitz's cultural-theoretical approach of discourse/practice formations and Theodore Schatzki's site ontology approach have, in particular, significantly increased the explanatory power and the explanatory claims of a social theory based on this concept. The following contribution aims to compare the two approaches and to discuss the potential and limitations of their explanatory power and claims.;