CONCEPT
Processual Sociology
Abbott's theoretical orientation — articulated most fully in his 2016 book of the same name — insisting that social reality is constantly making and remaking itself through ongoing processes rather than existing as fixed structures.
Processual sociology is Abbott's broader theoretical orientation, placing him within the Chicago pragmatist tradition. Social reality, in this view, is not a structure that exists and then changes but an ongoing process that is continuously being made and remade through the actions, interactions, and choices of its participants. The professional system is never static—it is always in process, always being reconstructed through daily practice. The AI disruption has not destroyed this system but accelerated its self-remaking, compressing decades of professional evolution into years and making the processual character of social reality unusually visible.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The orientation has implications that extend beyond abstract theory into practical guidance for practitioners navigating transitions. If the professional system is always in process, then the practitioner's relationship to it is not that of a passenger on a fixed track but of a participant in ongoing negotiation. Practitioners do not merely occupy jurisdictions—they actively construct them through daily choices