Morphogenic Society and the Structure of Social Relations

The aim of this chapter is to understand how the morphogenesis of society comes about through social relations, which are the connectors that mediate between agency and social structure. The generative mechanism that feeds social morphogenesis resides in the dynamic of the social relations networks that alter the social molecule constituting structures already in place. Social morphogenesis is a form of surplus of society with respect to itself. This surplus is produced through the relationality that agents/actors create in their interactions. We need a general theory of social relations that is able to show how the molecular structure of social relations in different contexts is altered. The morphogenetic surplus does not derive from structural effects as much as it is generated by ‘emergent relational effects’. Society increases (or decreases) its potential for surplus depending on processes of valorization (or devalorization) of social relations. Examples are given with reference to the crisis of the typically modern societal arrangements (lib/lab) and the birth of an after-modern society.