| This study attempts a dialectical theory of collective action responsive to the philosophies of Georg Hegel and Karl Marx by leveraging the work of Jean-Paul Sartre toward an investigation of collective belief and agency, alienation and community. My primary concerns are (1) characterizing dialectical social theories, (2) tracing the historical development of dialectical social theory as the aforementioned topics of investigation manifest in the work of Hegel, Marx and Sartre and (3) describing the conditions under which interpersonal identification arises and dissipates for individual members of collectives. To these ends I examine dialectics as a method of doing social theory, articulate the unique structures of agency appropriate to various collective entities like families, economies and political states, and defend a theory of joint authorship to account for the solidarity of group beliefs. With this support I present a project-based understanding of collective action that demonstrates the transformation of projects from serial collectives to fused groups to institutions. I situate this Sartrean theory within Hegel's and Marx's independent philosophies on collective action, Sartre's early attempts at addressing the topic, and Margaret Gilbert's contemporary theory of joint commitment and joint action. |
