Sociology has long neglected trust as a theoretical concept

Evidence

Trust has never been a topic of mainstream sociology. Neither classical authors nor modern sociologists use the term in a theoretical context. For this reason the elaboration of theoretical frameworks, one of the main sources of conceptual clarification, has been relatively neglected. Furthermore, empirical research — for example, research about trust and distrust in politics — has relied on rather general and unspecified ideas, confusing problems of trust with positive or negative attitudes toward political leadership or political institutions, with alienation (itself a multidimensional concept), with hopes and worries, or with confidence. — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1327

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s core thesis: Luhmann’s complaint motivates why Saramago’s novel (an empirical thought-experiment on trust collapse) fills a genuine theoretical gap.