Showing papers in "European Journal of Social Theory in 2019"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that an adequate understanding of the populist phenomenon necessitates a radical shift of perspective: beyond the democratic and emancipatory norms, which still govern most of the relevant literature.
Abstract: Despite the burgeoning literature on right-wing populism, there is still considerable uncertainty about its causes, its impact on liberal democracies and about promising counter-strategies. Inspired by recent suggestions that (1) the emancipatory left has made a significant contribution to the proliferation of the populist right; and (2) populist movements, rather than challenging the established socio-political order, in fact stabilize and further entrench its logic, this article argues that an adequate understanding of the populist phenomenon necessitates a radical shift of perspective: beyond the democratic and emancipatory norms, which still govern most of the relevant literature. Approaching its subject matter via democratic theory and modernization theory, it undertakes a reassessment of the triangular relationship between modernity, democracy and populism. It finds that the latter is not helpfully conceptualized as anti-modernist or anti-democratic but should, instead, be regarded as a predictable feature of the form of politics distinctive of today's third modernity.
68 citations
TL;DR: This article used the current "refugees/migrants crisis" and Brexit as illustrative of the numerous challenges the European Union faces today when it comes to its identity and the construction of a...
Abstract: This article uses the current ‘refugees/migrants crisis’ and Brexit as illustrative of the numerous challenges the European Union faces today when it comes to its identity and the construction of a...
35 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that environmental planetary discourses have coalesced into the Anthropocene crisis narrative and reformulated the state of nature apparatus of Western political theory, arguing that environmental discourses and state-of-the-art science have been corrupted.
Abstract: The article argues that environmental planetary discourses have coalesced into the Anthropocene crisis narrative and reformulated the state of nature apparatus of Western political theory. The Anth...
29 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the task of social philosophy can be defined as the diagnosis and therapy of social pathologies, and the authors discuss four conceptions of social pathology, i.e.,
Abstract: This article starts with the idea that the task of social philosophy can be defined as the diagnosis and therapy of social pathologies. It discusses four conceptions of social pathology. The first ...
29 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors offer a new understanding of populism, and the argument unfolds as follows: first, the populist literature is reviewed and two main approaches are identified: ontic and logic-oriented, th...
Abstract: This article offers a new understanding of populism. The argument unfolds as follows: first, the populist literature is reviewed and two main approaches are identified: ontic and logic-oriented, th...
29 citations
TL;DR: While early studies of populism, usually dated from the 1960s, were highly interdisciplinary, contemporary research in this field is dominated by political science and political theory as mentioned in this paper, and this curren...
Abstract: While early studies of populism, usually dated from the 1960s, were highly interdisciplinary, contemporary research in this field is dominated by political science and political theory. This curren...
21 citations
TL;DR: The biopolitical is a composite mixture of heterogeneous, and sometimes conflicting, forces, discourses, institutions, and institutions as discussed by the authors, which is the messiness of biopolitics.
Abstract: This introduction to the special issue focuses on the messiness of biopolitics. The biopolitical is a composite mixture of heterogeneous, and sometimes conflicting, forces, discourses, institutions...
21 citations
TL;DR: This theory presents the human organism as comprised of multiple ecosystems and as a multitude, suggesting that the thanatopolitical attempts to wipe out microbial others are giving way to an affirmative microbiopolitics grounded in generative multispecies relationality.
Abstract: The human microbiome has become one of the dominant biomedical frameworks of the contemporary moment that may be understood to be post-Pasteurian. The recognitions the human microbiome opens up for...
21 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines existing versions of recognition theory in the light of several empirical case studies of twentieth-century political ruptures after the First World War and proposes ways to develop a theory of derecognition which might be used to guide empirical research on informal practices of political change.
Abstract: This article critically examines existing versions of recognition theory in the light of several empirical case studies of twentieth-century political ruptures after the First World War. It notes that the prevalent theoretical focus on the enfranchisement of previously subaltern groups cannot account for the empirical significance of negative processes, such as the disenfranchisement of former elites and the decline of previously hegemonic values, which are typical for conditions of political uncertainty. To conceptualize such examples, an expansion of the existing vocabulary of recognition theory is necessary. The article proposes ways to develop a theory of derecognition which might be used to guide empirical research on informal practices of political change.
18 citations
TL;DR: While the framework of social pathology remains a crucial tool for critical social theorists, there is confusion and debate surrounding the precise nature of the heuristic as mentioned in this paper, and the core argument of thi...
Abstract: While the framework of social pathology remains a crucial tool for critical social theorists, there is confusion and debate surrounding the precise nature of the heuristic. The core argument of thi...
15 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that Western youth are developing subjectivities that reflect neoliberal discursive formations of self-interest, competitiveness, and competitiveness, a phenomenon they call "self-interest" and "selfishness".
Abstract: Disconcerting findings from nascent sociological research suggest that Western youth are developing subjectivities that reflect neoliberal discursive formations of self-interest, competitiveness, a...
TL;DR: The authors combines the neo-Hegelian theory of recognition with an analysis of social pathologies to show how the populist formulations of political goals in struggles for recognition are - despi...
Abstract: This article combines the neo-Hegelian theory of recognition with an analysis of social pathologies to show how the populist formulations of political goals in struggles for recognition are – despi...
TL;DR: The authors developed a model of relational happiness that challenges popular individualized definitions and emphasizes how it can enhance the sociological analysis of inequality, and used it in their work on relational happiness.
Abstract: This article develops a model of relational happiness that challenges popular individualized definitions and emphasizes how it can enhance the sociological analysis of inequality. Many studies of h...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the dynamics behind the generation of social pathologies in modern society also undermine the social-relational framework for recognition, and they therefore claim that the theo...
Abstract: This article argues that the dynamics behind the generation of social pathologies in modern society also undermine the social-relational framework for recognition. It therefore claims that the theo...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors aim at grounding critical theories with the help of psy discourses, and argue that the relationship between the two disciplines has always been a controversial one, the article argues that t...
Abstract: This article aims at grounding critical theories with the help of psy discourses. Even if the relationship between the two disciplines has always been a controversial one, the article argues that t...
TL;DR: One of three distinct approaches to his famous ‘trust’ argument, this paper written by Garfinkel in 1960, and never before published, proposed a rethinking of rules, games and linguistic classifica...
Abstract: One of three distinct approaches to his famous ‘Trust’ argument, this paper written by Garfinkel in 1960, and never before published, proposed a rethinking of rules, games and linguistic classifica...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the relationship between bedbugs and humans in the Glasgow neighbourhood of Govanhill and draw on Roberto Esposito's conceptualization of "affirmative biopolitics".
Abstract: Drawing on Roberto Esposito’s conceptualization of ‘affirmative biopolitics’, this article examines the relationship between bedbugs and humans in the Glasgow neighbourhood of Govanhill. Through an...
TL;DR: The authors made a contribution to debates in recognition theory by expanding the taxonomy of (mis-)recognition in the economic sphere and argued that doing justice to the variety of ways in which misrecognition occurs in the real world is difficult.
Abstract: This article makes a contribution to debates in recognition theory by expanding the taxonomy of (mis-)recognition in the economic sphere It argues that doing justice to the variety of ways in whic
TL;DR: The authors investigates the entanglement between financialization and neoliberalism at the level of subjectivity and finds that it is a subjectivity-based relationship that can be seen as a form of subjectivism.
Abstract: Adding to contemporary debates about the relationship between financialization and neoliberalism, this article investigates their entanglement at the level of subjectivity. Primarily, the article a...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on a religious structure that is intrinsic to the contemporary mechanisms that have enabled the global domination of economic power: faith in the market, and focus on the relationship between faith and economic power.
Abstract: This article focuses on a religious structure that is intrinsic to the contemporary mechanisms that have enabled the global domination of economic power: faith in the market. Following Foucault’s t...
TL;DR: In this article, one of three distinct versions of Garfinkel's famous "trust" argument, i.e., that constitut... is discussed. But this argument is not discussed in this paper.
Abstract: This article discusses ‘Notes on Language Games’, written by Harold Garfinkel in 1960 and never before published, one of three distinct versions of his famous ‘Trust’ argument, i.e., that constitut...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the indefinite detention and torture of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp and the intentional destabilization of Palestinian civilian life in the Israeli Occupation can be linked.
Abstract: This article argues that the indefinite detention and torture of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp and the intentional destabilization of Palestinian civilian life in the Israeli occup...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that combining elements of the sociological theories of Johann Arnason and Peter Wagner can contribute to an understanding of the causes of the new Cold War on the European co
Abstract: This article argues that combining elements of the sociological theories of Johann Arnason and Peter Wagner can contribute to an understanding of the causes of the ‘new Cold War’ on the European co...
TL;DR: The work of Latour has animated debates in sociology, anthropology and philosophy over several decades, while attracting criticisms of the ontological, epistemological and political implicati... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The work of Bruno Latour has animated debates in sociology, anthropology and philosophy over several decades, while attracting criticisms of the ontological, epistemological and political implicati...
TL;DR: The amount of theoretical reflection on the topic remains comparatively low as mentioned in this paper, due to two specific limitations of the literature: the lack of theoretical analysis and the limited amount of available data.
Abstract: Global energy studies have produced a flurry of empirical analyses. However, the amount of theoretical reflection on the topic remains comparatively low. This article takes two specific limitations...
TL;DR: The authors compare Arendt's account of labour as a critical response to humanisms of labour, or put otherwise, to situate it as an anti-humanism of labour.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to situate Arendt’s account of labour as a critical response to humanisms of labour, or put otherwise, to situate it as an anti-humanism of labour. It compares Arendt’s a...
TL;DR: The authors examines Gilles Deleuze's and Giorgio Agamben's thoughts on the immanent creativity emergent from formal, impersonal life as a pathway for resistance to biopolitics.
Abstract: This article examines Gilles Deleuze’s and Giorgio Agamben’s thoughts on the immanent creativity emergent from formal, impersonal life as a pathway for resistance to biopolitics. In Coldness and Cr...
TL;DR: The problem facing society today, which is only superficially defined in terms of "post democracy" or exorcised as populism, is not the limits or defects of democracy, but, on the contrary, its comp...
Abstract: The problem facing society today, which is only superficially defined in terms of ‘postdemocracy’ or exorcised as populism, is not the limits or defects of democracy, but, on the contrary, its comp...
TL;DR: For generations, critical social theorists have turned to the framing of "pathology" to provide a theoretical infrastructure for their critique as discussed by the authors, and such an approach famously undergirds much of the Fra...
Abstract: For generations, critical social theorists have turned to the framing of ‘pathology’ to provide a theoretical infrastructure for their critique. Such an approach famously undergirds much of the Fra...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make two points: seeking and granting recognition is an ambivalent process that may lead to results completely the opposite from what was intended, and certain social pathol...
Abstract: This article aims to make two points. First, seeking and granting recognition is an ambivalent process that may lead to results completely the opposite from what was intended. Certain social pathol...