ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a different conception of theory, one that sees it as a product of interactive processes rather than of the creative efforts of a single author. It refers theory is symbolic universe that structures the way that a group of scholars interacts. The chapter suggests that Serge Lang is dramatic and self-conscious about his filemaking work, and the upheavals he has precipitated are neither isolated events nor particularly unusual. Filemaking shows that theorizing is a product of conflict and argument. It is a form of rhetoric generated in response to political agendas. The filemaking of Serge Lang and Peter Hall is a process that creates social theory. Social theory is a technical specialty that walls itself off from other segments of the social science enterprise. Theory is dynamic when it contributes to and draws from research. It also is important to the extent that it emerges from and interacts with other political and cultural dialogues.
