Debugging Theory The Interrelationship Of Social Theory And Social Insects

My dissertation explores the interrelationship between sociological theory and entomology in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Specifically I analyze the shared discourse between the two disciplines on social insects, that is, ants, bees, wasps and termites. This shared discourse led to the co-creation of theories and concepts about social insect and human social structure. The social insect analogies in the discourse reflected Western bureaucratic human social structures and colonial concepts concerning human scales of civilization. The analogies mutually reinforced ideas about the "naturalness" of hierarchical social structures. My theoretical framework uses science studies, feminist and postcolonial theory to deconstruct this naturalized discourse. The method of critical discourse analysis I use reveals patterns of shared analogies that portray class, gender and race hierarchies in an interlocking social system. These hierarchical terms and concepts developed in the nineteenth and early twentieth century are still in use in entomology. Currently, interdisciplinary analogies incorporate information on social insects, social organization and computer technologies and are influenced by earlier terms, theories and concepts. My sociological analysis of the historical co-construction of these theories and concepts provides a critical context for analyzing these contemporary constructions.