Social phenomena must be analyzed as overdetermined conjunctural ensembles, not single-cause outcomes

Evidence

Although influenced by sociological and criminological thinking, the overarching object of analysis in PTC was not “crime” or even “society,” but “the social formation,” conceptualized as an ensemble of practices, institutions, forces, and contradictions. PTC treated the cultural, ideological, and discursive aspects of the “mugging” phenomenon, along with its legal, social, economic, and political dimensions, as constitutive and overdetermining in their effects, not as secondary and dependent factors determined elsewhere. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1040

Categorization

Category: Definitional Content

• DEFINE: Defines Hall’s ‘social formation’ and ‘overdetermination’ — the analytical core of his conjunctural method.