Luc Boltanski is one of the most important contemporary social theorists. Whether and how his sociology matters for International Relations (IR) theory has, so far, not been explored. Boltanski’s work, as this article demonstrates, can greatly advance international political sociology by further developing a practice theoretical account which reconciles Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory and Pierre Bourdieu’s praxeology. Boltanski’s pragmatic sociology is mainly inspired by pragmatism and ethnomethodology, but it is still concerned with sociology as a critical project of emancipation. He aims to renew critical sociology by focusing on the ‘critical capacities’ ordinary actors use in disputes and controversies of political life. Practices of justification and critique as triggers of conflicts and sources of agreements are consequently the subjects of analysis. This implies, furthermore, a strong notion of normativity in practice, which reveals a blind spot in current debates in IR. Justification becomes a social practice through which diverging legitimacy claims are tested under conditions of uncertainty. Such a view is conceptually and methodologically relevant for IR scholars interested in contested norms, moral ambiguity, and the fragile character of political reality. Considering Boltanski’s work broadens the empirical scope of practice theory and provides promising new directions for IR theory.

Book Review: Luc Boltanski, De la critique. Précis de sociologie de l'émancipation, Paris Gallimard, 2009, 298 p., 19,90 euros, ISBN 978-2070126569 (pbk):

On Justification and Critique: Luc Boltanski’s Pragmatic Sociology and International Relations

Art and the Challenge of Markets Volumes 1 & 2 examine the politics of art and culture in light of the profound changes that have taken place in the world order since the 1980s and 1990s. The contributors explore how in these two decades, the neoliberal or market-based model of capitalism started to spread from the economic realm to other areas of society. As a result, many aspects of contemporary Western societies increasingly function in the same way as the private enterprise sector under traditional market capitalism.
 
This second volume analyses the relationships of art with contemporary capitalist economies and instrumentalist cultural policies, and examines several varieties of capitalist-critical and alternative art forms that exist in today’s art worlds. It also addresses the vexed issues of art controversies and censorship. The chapters cover issues such as the culturalization of the economy, aesthetics and anti-aesthetics, the societal benefits of works of art, art's responsibility to society, ‘artivism’, activist arts as protest and capitalism-critical works, and controversies over nudity in art, as well as considering the marketization of emerging visual arts worlds in East Asia. The book ends with a concluding chapter suggesting that even in today's marketized and commercialized environments, art will find a way.
 
Both volumes provide students and scholars across a range of disciplines with an incisive, comparative overview of the politics of art and culture and national, international and transnational art worlds in contemporary capitalism.

Art and the Challenge of Markets: From Commodification of Art to Artistic Critiques of Capitalism

This chapter provides an in-depth discussion of Luc Boltanski’s 'On Critique: A Sociology of Emancipation'. On the basis of a detailed textual analysis of what may be regarded as Boltanski’s most philosophical study, this contribution offers a fine-grained account of the strengths and weaknesses of his ‘pragmatic sociology of critique’. The chapter is divided into two parts. The first part examines five significant strengths of On Critique: (1) its engagement with the normative tasks of critical theory; (2) its insights into the structuring function of institutions; (3) its emphasis on the justificatory role of critique; (4) its concern with the adaptable nature of domination; and (5) its insistence upon the empowering potential of emancipation. Following the thematic structure of the previous investigation, the second part reflects upon the flaws and limitations of On Critique: (1) its failure to identify solid normative foundations for critical theory; (2) its terminologically imprecise, analytically short-sighted, and insufficiently differentiated conception of institutions; (3) its unsystematic approach to the multilayered relationship between ordinary and scientific forms of critique; (4) its lack of attention to the polycentric constitution of power relations in highly differentiated societies; and (5) its reductive understanding of human emancipation.

Is There Such a Thing as a ‘Pragmatic Sociology of Critique’? Reflections on Luc Boltanski's On Critique

My paper argues that Luc Boltanski’s pragmatic sociology makes an important contribution to two central concerns of critical theory: the empirical analysis of the contradictions and conflicts of ca...

The institution of critique and the critique of institutions

This work was supported by the British Academy under a small grant round 2011-12 and the Foundation for Polish Science (SKILLS-Praxis Programme 2014).

Book Review: Luc Boltanski, De la critique. Précis de sociologie de l'émancipation, Paris Gallimard, 2009, 298 p., 19,90 euros, ISBN 978-2070126569 (pbk):

Citations

On Justification and Critique: Luc Boltanski’s Pragmatic Sociology and International Relations

Art and the Challenge of Markets: From Commodification of Art to Artistic Critiques of Capitalism

Is There Such a Thing as a ‘Pragmatic Sociology of Critique’? Reflections on Luc Boltanski's On Critique

The institution of critique and the critique of institutions

Arrested Conflict: Transnational place-making in Polish-German border towns

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On Critique: A Sociology of Emancipation