The Foundations of the Social: Between Critical Theory and Reflexive Sociology

TLDR: In this article, Simon Susen argues that we can only identify solid grounds for social critique by identifying the grounds of the social itself, and proposes a model for the reconstruction of Habermasian critical theory and Bourdieusian reflexive sociology.

Abstract: In this lucid and novel examination of the concept of the social in contemporary critical thought, Simon Susen argues that we can only identify solid grounds for social critique by identifying the grounds of the social itself. The book draws upon the work of Jurgen Habermas and Pierre Bourdieu, and offers a model for the reconstruction of Habermasian critical theory and Bourdieusian reflexive sociology. These two theoretical approaches have been dominant influences in contemporary social theory. Susen explores how both conceptualise the social, and identifies the shortcomings of the Habermasian 'communicative approach' and the Bourdieusian 'homological approach'. He offers a method for overcoming their most significant shortcomings in terms of an alternative, five-dimensional approach to the nature of the social.