From Structure to Affect: Molecular Sociology of Becoming

The holistic perspectiveholistic perspective of sociology, in which the whole explains the parts and the structurestructure explains the individual, relies heavily on modern science’s conception of mechanical, linear causality of matter. Yet, recent science increasingly pays attention to the vitality, energy, and intensity inherent in matter and its complex and irregular flows. This trend best aligns with the molecular sociological tradition originating from LeibnizLeibniz and Tarde. Above all, their concepts of monad highlight vitality in matter and are directly related to the notion of affect, which is the force that changes the body’s capacity to act in relationships. This chapter explores what theoretical insights Leibniz’s and Tard’s monadologymonadology provided to the molecular sociology of becomingmolecular sociology of becoming that concentrates on the infinitesimally multifaceted and variable affective processes beyond the similarity and regularity of social phenomena. Specifically, it illustrates how Leibniz’s “perception” and “appetition” and Tarde’s “belief” and “desire” are associated with the non-conscious affective forces underlying all monads’ vitalityvitality. Furthermore, the chapter argues that a crucial foundation for understanding affect as a relational force comes from Leibniz’s monads as an “infinite series of envelopmentsinfinite series of envelopments” and Tarde’s monads as an “ensemble of mutual possessionensemble of mutual possession.” In addition, it explores how Leibniz’s and Tarde’s monads as a bodily “point of view” operates to make each monad the center of the universe in itself. This chapter further addresses how their monadology of infinitesimal differences constitutes the bedrock for conceptualizing the virtual and generative forces of affect that may disrupt society’s dominant norms and rules. Building on these discussions, it claims that what causes social behavior is not structural categories such as class, race, and gender but the infinitesimal and heterogeneous relational forces of affect flowing over bodies. This chapter suggests that the fallacy of structural categorization should be corrected by approaching the body not as an entity of essence (i.e., being) but as constant flows of events and processes of becoming.