ABSTRACT
One of the characteristics pointed out from the very beginning of sociology of unintended consequences was that its topic was subjected to various framings in social sciences, and that it was described under various names. This chapter uses this observation as the opening line of an investigation of the main typologies of analytical frameworks for the study of unintended consequences that have been advanced in the field. The review leads to the following findings. First, there are three main approaches to the unintended in sociology: (1) the unanticipated consequences of social action, (2) the institutions as unintended consequences of social interaction, and (3) the mechanisms of reproduction of institutionalized practices. Second, the systematization of these analytical frameworks has occurred rather self-referentially, up until recently when the cumulative knowledge became more evident. Third, a new, less conventional, possibilistic modality to study the unintended begins to take shape even though this does not call itself in these terms. Elements of a theory of the possible can be spotted, that is for sure, yet these are not articulated as such, at least not yet.
