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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25259 |
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| _version_ | 1866915530378575872 |
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| author | Salguero, Ricardo Alonzo Fernández |
| author_facet | Salguero, Ricardo Alonzo Fernández |
| contents | This article proposes a synthetic theory of socio-epistemic structuration to understand the reproduction of inequality in contemporary societies. I argue that social reality is not only determined by material structures and social networks but is fundamentally shaped by the epistemic frameworks -- ideologies, narratives, and attributions of agency -- that mediate actors' engagement with their environment. The theory integrates findings from critical race theory, network sociology, social capital studies, historical sociology, and analyses of emerging AI agency. I analyze how structures (from the ``racial contract'' to Facebook networks) and epistemic frameworks (from racist ideology to personal culture) mutually reinforce one another, creating resilient yet unequal life trajectories. Using data from large-scale experiments like the Moving to Opportunity and social network analyses, I demonstrate that exposure to diverse environments and social capital is a necessary but insufficient condition for social mobility; epistemic friction, manifested as `friending bias' and persistent cultural frameworks, systematically limits the benefits of such exposure. I conclude that a public and methodologically reflexive sociology must focus on unpacking and challenging these epistemic structures, recognizing the theoretical capacity of subaltern publics (``reverse tutelage'') and developing new methods to disentangle the complex interplay of homophily, contagion, and structural causation in a world of big data. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_25259 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A Synthetic Theory of Socio-Epistemic Structuration: Capital, Ideology, and Agency in the Age of Digital Inequality Salguero, Ricardo Alonzo Fernández Physics and Society This article proposes a synthetic theory of socio-epistemic structuration to understand the reproduction of inequality in contemporary societies. I argue that social reality is not only determined by material structures and social networks but is fundamentally shaped by the epistemic frameworks -- ideologies, narratives, and attributions of agency -- that mediate actors' engagement with their environment. The theory integrates findings from critical race theory, network sociology, social capital studies, historical sociology, and analyses of emerging AI agency. I analyze how structures (from the ``racial contract'' to Facebook networks) and epistemic frameworks (from racist ideology to personal culture) mutually reinforce one another, creating resilient yet unequal life trajectories. Using data from large-scale experiments like the Moving to Opportunity and social network analyses, I demonstrate that exposure to diverse environments and social capital is a necessary but insufficient condition for social mobility; epistemic friction, manifested as `friending bias' and persistent cultural frameworks, systematically limits the benefits of such exposure. I conclude that a public and methodologically reflexive sociology must focus on unpacking and challenging these epistemic structures, recognizing the theoretical capacity of subaltern publics (``reverse tutelage'') and developing new methods to disentangle the complex interplay of homophily, contagion, and structural causation in a world of big data. |
| title | A Synthetic Theory of Socio-Epistemic Structuration: Capital, Ideology, and Agency in the Age of Digital Inequality |
| topic | Physics and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25259 |