Positional sociology and the material conditions of subjectivities

This article advances a renewed materialist framework through the development of positional sociology, an approach that reconnects macro-structural transformations with the subjective experiences through which individuals navigate contemporary capitalism. Building on historical materialism while engaging critically with poststructuralism, subaltern studies and Bourdieusian field theory, the paper argues that position constitutes the key analytical bridge linking structure, history and subjectivity. While positional sociology first emerged within an Italian network of scholars, the Rete di Sociologia di Posizione, which has also initiated an editorial series dedicated to this agenda, this article seeks to extend the debate to an international audience by articulating the theoretical foundations of the approach in dialogue with global discussions on neoliberalization, social decomposition and the micro, macro divide. The article shows how positional sociology reframes experiences of precarity, fragmentation and dispossession as materially grounded phenomena, not individual contingencies. By integrating historical analysis, structural dynamics and lived subjectivities, positional sociology offers a coherent lens for understanding the forms of domination and agency that define the neoliberal conjuncture and for rethinking the materialist tradition in contemporary social theory.