This paper is an attempt to reflect upon Boaventura de Sousa Santos' ideas, especially the ones which shaped his work "A crítica da razão indolente: contra o desperdício da experiência", having, as a theoretical support, Norbert Elias' sociological construct. In doing so, we mainly argue for the inclusion of two structural spaces, namely Espaço do Sujeito and Espaço Grupal (individual space and group space, respectively ) in a social "map" devised by Santos, who named it as Mapa da Estrutura-Ação das sociedades capitalistas no espaço mundial (Structure-Action Map of the capitalist societies in the world context). The need for the inclusion of these new "spaces" is justified by the argument that the individual, as we know him, was born together with modern times. Due to the possibilities of keeping a dialogue with himself as a subject, the individual can also be perceived as a structural space, controlled by both regulation and social emancipation forces developed by Santos. The social group, on the other hand, has its own dynamics, which cannot be totally apprehended neither by the domestic space nor by the community space. Having these considerations in mind, the author develops his contribution, from what he calls paradigmatic transition,achieving three aims: first, he analyses and brings about the main features of Norbert Elias' work; second, he carries out a brief incursion into Elias' sociology, and finally, he proposes the inclusion of the subject and group spaces as relevant categories that will help to grasp the reality in movement. The conclusion does not only recall the first discussion, but it also points out the role of the two structural spaces proposed and the whole map organization as well, so that one can have a better understanding of the current processes and the construction of strategies, which lead to social transformation.
paradigmatic transition; structure-action map; Norbert Elias; Sociology; subject space; group space
