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Journal ArticleDOI

The institution of critique and the critique of institutions

08 Sep 2014-Thesis Eleven (SAGE Publications)-Vol. 124, Iss: 1, pp 20-52
TL;DR: The authors argue that Boltanski's pragmatic sociology makes an important contribution to two central concerns of critical theory: the empirical analysis of the contradictions and conflicts of critical theories, and the analysis of conflicts among critical theories.
Abstract: 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...
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2,842 citations

Book
23 Feb 2017
TL;DR: Debating Humanity as discussed by the authors explores sociological and philosophical efforts to delineate key features of humanity that identify us as members of the human species and defends a universalistic principle of humanity as vital to any adequate understanding of social life.
Abstract: Debating Humanity explores sociological and philosophical efforts to delineate key features of humanity that identify us as members of the human species. After challenging the normative contradictions of contemporary posthumanism, this book goes back to the foundational debate on humanism between Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger in the 1940s and then re-assesses the implicit and explicit anthropological arguments put forward by seven leading postwar theorists: self-transcendence (Hannah Arendt), adaptation (Talcott Parsons), responsibility (Hans Jonas), language (Jurgen Habermas), strong evaluations (Charles Taylor), reflexivity (Margaret Archer) and reproduction of life (Luc Boltanski). Genuinely interdisciplinary and boldly argued, Daniel Chernilo has crafted a novel philosophical sociology that defends a universalistic principle of humanity as vital to any adequate understanding of social life.

51 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Boltanski's pragmatic sociology is mainly inspired by pragmatism and ethnomethodology, but it is still concerned with sociology as a critical project of emancipation as discussed by the authors, which 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.
Abstract: 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.

45 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In recent years, the use of experimental methodologies has emerged as a central means of evaluating international aid interventions as mentioned in this paper, and randomized control trials (randomized control trials) have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of aid interventions.
Abstract: In recent years, the use of experimental methodologies has emerged as a central means of evaluating international aid interventions. Today, proponents of randomized control trials (so-called random...

34 citations


Cites background from "The institution of critique and the..."

  • ...12 For discussions of pragmatic sociology, see C. Browne (2014), Bénatouïl (1999), Celikates (2006) and Wagner (1999)....

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References
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Book
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: Castoriadis's "The Imaginary Institution of Society" as discussed by the authors is one of the most important works of contemporary European thought, and it is the most original, ambitious, and reflective attempt to think through the liberating mediation of history, society, external and internal nature once again as praxis.
Abstract: "[T]he most original, ambitious, and reflective attempt to think through the liberating mediation of history, society, external and internal nature once again as praxis". -- Ju rgen Habermas, "The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity" "Castoriadis's "The Imaginary Institution of Society" is a work of great power and originality. As a work of social theory, I would argue that it belongs in a class with the writings of Habermas and Arendt". -- Jay Bernstein, University of Essex This is one of the most original and important works of contemporary European thought. First published in France in 1975, it is the major theoretical work of one of the foremost thinkers in Europe today. Castoriadis offers a brilliant and far-reaching analysis of the unique character of the social-historical world and its relations to the individual, to language, and to nature. He argues that most traditional conceptions of society and history overlook the essential feature of the social-historical world, namely that this world is not articulated once and for all but is in each case the creation of the society concerned. In emphasizing the element of creativity, Castoriadis opens the way for rethinking political theory and practice in terms of the autonomous and explicit self-institution of society.

1,412 citations


"The institution of critique and the..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Similarly, Boltanski and Chiapello contend that capitalism is Boltanski’s assertion that institutions are always incomplete (Boltanski 2011; Boltanski and Chiapello 2005; Castoriadis 1987)....

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  • ...These facets of Boltanski’s conception of institutions have definite affinities with Castoriadis’s interpretation of the imaginary institution of society (Castoriadis 1987)....

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  • ...…these two critiques and, to varying extents, this synthesis was articulated by the other theoretical circles that influenced the student revolts and radical movements of that period, like ‘Socialism or Barbarism’ and The Situationist International (Castoriadis 1987, 1988; Lefort 1986; Debord 1995)....

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  • ...Like John Searle and Castoriadis, Boltanski develops a version of the thesis that institutions enable practices that lead to their consolidation (Searle 2005; Castoriadis 1987)....

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  • ...The Frankfurt School could be considered to offer a synthesis of these two critiques and, to varying extents, this synthesis was articulated by the other theoretical circles that influenced the student revolts and radical movements of that period, like ‘Socialism or Barbarism’ and The Situationist International (Castoriadis 1987, 1988; Lefort 1986; Debord 1995)....

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Book
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: The sociologist Richard Sennett surveys major differences between earlier forms of industrial capitalism and the more global, more febrile, ever more mutable version of capitalism that is taking its place.
Abstract: A provocative and disturbing look at the ways new economic facts are shaping our personal and social values. The distinguished sociologist Richard Sennett surveys major differences between earlier forms of industrial capitalism and the more global, more febrile, ever more mutable version of capitalism that is taking its place. He shows how these changes affect everyday life-how the work ethic is changing; how new beliefs about merit and talent displace old values of craftsmanship and achievement; how what Sennett calls "the specter of uselessness" haunts professionals as well as manual workers; how the boundary between consumption and politics is dissolving. In recent years, reformers of both private and public institutions have preached that flexible, global corporations provide a model of freedom for individuals, unlike the experience of fixed and static bureaucracies Max Weber once called an "iron cage." Sennett argues that, in banishing old ills, the new-economy model has created new social and emotional traumas. Only a certain kind of human being can prosper in unstable, fragmentary institutions: the culture of the new capitalism demands an ideal self oriented to the short term, focused on potential ability rather than accomplishment, willing to discount or abandon past experience. In a concluding section, Sennett examines a more durable form of self hood, and what practical initiatives could counter the pernicious effects of "reform."

1,354 citations

01 Jan 2000

1,176 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: On Justification: Economies of Worth by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thevenot as mentioned in this paper is a well-known French book that does not fit into any single research paradigm.
Abstract: On Justification: Economies of Worth. By Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thevenot. Translated by Catherine Porter. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006. 400p. 39.50 paper.Those interested in any of a variety of fields—reasoning about justice, the foundations and mechanics of social interaction, rational action, value formation, norm change, or conflict—will find rich potential in this ambitious and challenging book by sociologist Luc Boltanski and economist/statistician Laurent Thevenot, which does not fit into any single research paradigm. Published in France more than 15 years ago, the book is available in this English translation and ought to have a significant impact on social theory generally.

813 citations


"The institution of critique and the..." refers background in this paper

  • ...…on various conceptions to be found in the history of political philosophy, Boltanski and Thévenot originally described six ‘cités’ or ‘polities’ that constitute ‘worlds’ or general frameworks of justification: domestic, industrial, inspired, market, civic, and fame (Boltanski and Thévenot 2006)....

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  • ...‘A domestic being ‘‘gives according to what he is given’’, in proportion to the domain that contains it’ (Boltanski and Thévenot 2006: 246)....

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  • ...There is undoubtedly some exaggeration to Boltanski and Thévenot’s assertion that the higher common principles ‘may thus be said to constitute the basic political equipment needed to fabricate a social bond’ (Boltanski and Thévenot 2006: 71)....

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  • ...Once this is done through some agreed upon sense of equivalence and on the basis of a higher common principle then the situation ‘hangs together’ (Boltanski and Thévenot 2006)....

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  • ...(Boltanski and Thévenot 2006: 128) Boltanski has certainly developed an approach to the critical social theory problem of the conversion between the subjectivity of social actors and the objectivity of institutions....

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Book ChapterDOI
14 Jan 2008

728 citations