Middle-Range Operators: The Sociology of Uncertainty as a Gestalt Theorem

Abstract

This article proposes a conceptualization of middle-range operators - a class of social phenomena insufficiently described in contemporary social theory yet playing a central role in enabling sociological theorization of uncertainty. The analysis critically examines reflexive sociology’s limitations in addressing uncertainty, particularly the “dual hysteresis problem” in Pierre Bourdieu’s crisis theory, which obstructs linkages between micro- and macro-level social realities in contexts of change. This impasse necessitates recourse to reflexive sociology’s peripheral conceptual tools: “inventions” or, more broadly, middle-range operators. Through case studies of Gisèle Sapiro’s “axiological operators” and Nathan Marom’s “spatial distinctions”, the text demonstrates how contemporary reflexive sociology identifies concepts and phenomena structurally fulfilling middle-range operator functions in specific contexts, while neglecting broader systemic characterization of this social category. To address this gap, the analysis engages with modern debates on (quasi)institutional preconditions and effects of social network dynamics, drawing particularly on guanxi scholarship. The concluding sectionoutlines defining characteristics of middle-range operators and introduces the concept of modulation - a theoretical lens revealing previously overlooked processes of resource transformation and recalibration enacted by social actors during structural crises and rapid societal transformations.