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From sociological-theory-skills
Positions a sociological theory manuscript within a specific tradition and conversation, naming whose theory is extended, challenged, or synthesized to avoid misattribution.
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/sociological-theory-skills:soctheory-literature-positioningThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
- The theoretical problem is set, but you cannot name the conversation it lives in
At a theory journal, the first reviewer question is what tradition are you intervening in and how? ST work almost always enters one (or bridges two) of the live conversations in sociological theory and makes a deliberate move within it: extend, challenge, reconstruct, or synthesize. A paper that does not place itself reads as freestanding speculation and is desk-reject-prone. Reed's "Justifying Sociological Knowledge" (ST 2008, 26(2):101–129) is a reminder that the tradition you stand in also fixes the warrant you owe.
ST is pluralistic. Identify which stream(s) your problem belongs to and read the recent ST pieces in it — reviewers are usually drawn from exactly that stream.
| Conversation | Touchstones (durable, not volatile) | Typical move |
|---|---|---|
| Field theory | Bourdieu; field/capital/habitus | reconceptualize a field's logic |
| Social mechanisms / analytical sociology | mechanism-based explanation | specify a new mechanism |
| Pragmatism / cultural-cognitive | habit, problem-situations, dual-process | re-theorize action/culture |
| Cultural sociology | meaning, classification, performance | sharpen a cultural concept |
| Systems theory | Luhmann; communication, differentiation | extend a systems distinction |
| Relational sociology | transactions, ties, processes | shift substance → relation |
| Metatheory / philosophy of explanation | warrant, interpretation, abduction | clarify a logic of inference |
State your move explicitly: "We extend field theory by…", not "We draw on Bourdieu."
Theory readers know the canon, and a wrong venue attribution costs credibility immediately. Several papers people "remember" as ST were published elsewhere:
When in doubt, confirm the venue on journals.sagepub.com (ST is stx) before listing a paper
as ST. See resources/exemplars/library.md for a web-verified ST set.
【Conversation(s)】[field theory / mechanisms / pragmatism / cultural / systems / relational / metatheory]
【Positioning move】extend / challenge / reconstruct / synthesize
【Whose theory】[named tradition + key interlocutors]
【Venue check】all attributions verified (ST vs. ASR/AJS): yes / fix [...]
【Recent ST conversation cited】yes / add [...]
【Next step】soctheory-theory-construction
npx claudepluginhub brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills --plugin sociological-theory-skillsRoutes to the appropriate soctheory-* sub-skill based on the current stage of a Sociological Theory manuscript. Decides which specialized skill to invoke next, from problem framing through peer-review revision.
Maps a manuscript's positioning within current sociological debates for AJS submission. Helps frame the literature section to signal engagement with live theoretical tensions rather than filling gaps.
Positions an ASR manuscript as a broad sociological contribution by framing the debate across subfields, naming the precise gap, and engaging the strongest rival account.