Social Theory and the Critique of Capitalism in a Communication Society

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick O'Mahony
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
The Third ◽  
Normative Reconstruction ◽  
Theoretical Developments

The essay attempts to re-contextualise the normative import of capitalism in the light of modern social theoretical developments. It firstly explores the significance in this regard of the procedural turn in both social theory and political philosophy. While important, this turn has come at the price of a loss of focus on the substantive plane of how unjust social relations – such as those often arising from capitalist structures – diminish the moral capacities of democratic institutions to shape social change. The essay goes on to show in the second section how Axel Honneth (2004, 2007), offering a partial corrective, combines a procedural emphasis on communication with a substantive account of embedded normative structures, opening the way to a differentiated sociological approach that remains normative but not one-sidedly transcendent and deontological. Taking a lead from these reflections, the third section presents a social theoretical architecture concerned both with social structures and processes and with normative grounding, balancing a perspective drawn from sociological constructivism with normative reconstruction. Finally, in the concluding section, the foregoing is brought to bear on the study of capitalism in a manner that is intended to open up new avenues for its critical theoretical exploration.

Slow motion revolution or assimilation? Theorizing ‘entryism’ in destabilizing regimes of inequality

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-519
Author(s):  
Kelly Thomson
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Slow Motion ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Scale Change ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Do So

Post-essentialist and poststructuralist conceptualizations of identities and social structures offer the theoretical potential for social change to emerge from actions and interactions among socially located actors. This ‘micro-emancipation’ approach suggests that changes negotiated in relations among actors can be scaled up or expanded beyond individual interactions to effect change in macro structures that sustain inequality. This micro approach contrasts sharply with binary, essentialist and structuralist approaches that implicitly suggest that hegemonic structures will undermine any incipient changes in social relations that emerge in interactions. What has been called ‘entryism’, i.e. the entry of marginalized actors into organizations, has often been viewed in an ambivalent light particularly by critical theorists who have questioned whether marginalized actors who join organizations can do so without becoming coopted. Does the entry of some actors from marginalized groups into organizations advance the opportunities for others or, as some have argued, do actors who succeed become coopted or even participants in the legitimization and reproduction of systems of exclusion? This article theorizes the role organizations play in contributing to the reproduction or disruption and transformation of regimes of inequality. Scholarship regarding the potential for micro-emancipatory actions to generate more substantial social change is at a crossroads. While research findings illustrate the binary of outsider/insider is transgressed and there is a sense that larger scale change is occurring as a result, existing theories have not enabled us to account for how this change is occurring – if it is. This article illustrates how postcolonial and new materialist theories offer distinctive conceptual insights that enable us to advance our understanding of how the entry of marginalized actors into organizations may contribute to destabilization and transformation of regimes of inequality.

Cities, Culture, and Social Change: Books in 1984

1985 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
D K Forbes ◽  
P Jackson ◽  
N J Thrift ◽  
P Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Third World ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
State Control ◽  
The Third ◽  
Enormous Amount ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
The Third World

This is the third in a series of annual reports on books likely to be of interest to readers of Society and Space. The report is again indicative rather than comprehensive. Given the enormous amount of literature that is now appearing in so many different subject areas, no other approach is possible. This year the report is divided into five sections: “Economy”, “Culture, Ethnicity, Neighbourhood, and Community”, “Cities, State Control, and Social Change”, “The Third World”, and “Methodology and Social Theory”.

Reason or Mumbo Jumbo: The Common Law’s Approach to Property

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. HARRIS
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Concrete Surface ◽  
Social Convention ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
The Third ◽  
Mumbo Jumbo ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common

The reasoning in common law cases and in the commentaries built upon them appears nowhere more arcane than when it is dealing with property. It is supposed to be concerned with who owns what, or has rights and responsibilities in respect of which, resources; but it is sprinkled with technicalities and in-bred conceptualisations. This chapter is organized as follows. The second section considers some reactions, in the history of political philosophy and social theory, to these peculiarities of the common law. The third section addresses claims that, within the law of modern property systems and especially those derived from the common law, the concept of property has disintegrated, so that it no longer means anything to say that a person ‘owns’ a resource. The fourth section shows how, despite its technical overlays, the common law does deploy conceptions of ownership. That is the key to the ethical underpinning of common law reasoning in relation to property. The fifth section considers instances of purely doctrinal reasoning. It suggests that what looks like dogma for dogma's sake may, after all, have ethical foundations. The chapter concludes that, at its best, the reasoning of the common law, like other juristic doctrine, represents a specialist variety of social convention whereby the mix of sound property-specific justice reasons is made concrete. Surface reasoning is peculiar to lawyers. Underlying justifications are not.

Confucian Perfectionism

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Chan
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Moral Rights ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Political Equality ◽  
Philosophical Foundations ◽  
Liberal Conception ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Conception Of The Good ◽  
The Right

Since the very beginning, Confucianism has been troubled by a serious gap between its political ideals and the reality of societal circumstances. Contemporary Confucians must develop a viable method of governance that can retain the spirit of the Confucian ideal while tackling problems arising from nonideal modern situations. The best way to meet this challenge, this book argues, is to adopt liberal democratic institutions that are shaped by the Confucian conception of the good rather than the liberal conception of the right. The book examines and reconstructs both Confucian political thought and liberal democratic institutions, blending them to form a new Confucian political philosophy. The book decouples liberal democratic institutions from their popular liberal philosophical foundations in fundamental moral rights, such as popular sovereignty, political equality, and individual sovereignty. Instead, it grounds them on Confucian principles and redefines their roles and functions, thus mixing Confucianism with liberal democratic institutions in a way that strengthens both. The book then explores the implications of this new yet traditional political philosophy for fundamental issues in modern politics, including authority, democracy, human rights, civil liberties, and social justice. The book critically reconfigures the Confucian political philosophy of the classical period for the contemporary era.

Same Address, Different Doors: Post-Heritage Deconstruction of the Heritage Household in Upstairs Downstairs in the 1970s and 2010s

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Abbiss
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
War Narrative ◽  
Critical History ◽  
The Social ◽  
Fourth Series ◽  
History Of ◽  
Multiple Episodes

This article offers a ‘post-heritage’ reading of both iterations of Upstairs Downstairs: the LondonWeekend Television (LWT) series (1971–5) and its shortlived BBC revival (2010–12). Identifying elements of subversion and subjectivity allows scholarship on the LWT series to be reassessed, recognising occasions where it challenges rather than supports the social structures of the depicted Edwardian past. The BBC series also incorporates the post-heritage element of self-consciousness, acknowledging the parallel between its narrative and the production’s attempts to recreate the success of its 1970s predecessor. The article’s first section assesses the critical history of the LWT series, identifying areas that are open to further study or revised readings. The second section analyses the serialised war narrative of the fourth series of LWT’s Upstairs, Downstairs (1974), revealing its exploration of female identity across multiple episodes and challenging the notion that the series became more male and upstairs dominated as it progressed. The third section considers the BBC series’ revised concept, identifying the shifts in its main characters’ positions in society that allow the series’ narrative to question the past it evokes. This will be briefly contrasted with the heritage stability of Downton Abbey (ITV, 2010–15). The final section considers the household of 165 Eaton Place’s function as a studio space, which the BBC series self-consciously adopts in order to evoke the aesthetics of prior period dramas. The article concludes by suggesting that the barriers to recreating the past established in the BBC series’ narrative also contributed to its failure to match the success of its earlier iteration.

Same Address, Different Doors: Post-Heritage Deconstruction of the Heritage Household in Upstairs Downstairs in the 1970s and 2010s

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Abbiss
Keyword(s):  
Final Section ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
War Narrative ◽  
Critical History ◽  
The Social ◽  
Fourth Series ◽  
History Of ◽  
Multiple Episodes

This article offers a ‘post-heritage’ reading of both iterations of Upstairs Downstairs: the LondonWeekend Television (LWT) series (1971–5) and its shortlived BBC revival (2010–12). Identifying elements of subversion and subjectivity allows scholarship on the LWT series to be reassessed, recognising occasions where it challenges rather than supports the social structures of the depicted Edwardian past. The BBC series also incorporates the post-heritage element of self-consciousness, acknowledging the parallel between its narrative and the production’s attempts to recreate the success of its 1970s predecessor. The article’s first section assesses the critical history of the LWT series, identifying areas that are open to further study or revised readings. The second section analyses the serialised war narrative of the fourth series of LWT’s Upstairs, Downstairs (1974), revealing its exploration of female identity across multiple episodes and challenging the notion that the series became more male and upstairs dominated as it progressed. The third section considers the BBC series’ revised concept, identifying the shifts in its main characters’ positions in society that allow the series’ narrative to question the past it evokes. This will be briefly contrasted with the heritage stability of Downton Abbey (ITV, 2010–15). The final section considers the household of 165 Eaton Place’s function as a studio space, which the BBC series self-consciously adopts in order to evoke the aesthetics of prior period dramas. The article concludes by suggesting that the barriers to recreating the past established in the BBC series’ narrative also contributed to its failure to match the success of its earlier iteration.

Economic Development and Traditional Social Structures: Some Theoretical Considerations

1988 ◽  
Vol 27 (4II) ◽  
pp. 501-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soofia Mumtaz
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Industrial System ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Third ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Functional Logic ◽  
The Third World ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

This paper discusses some issues currently preoccupying social scientists with respect to the process of development and its implications for Third World countries. These issues have become highly significant considering the momentum and nature of the development process being launched in the so-called "underdeveloped" world, within the context of modern nation-states. Therefore, in this paper, we seek to identify: (a) What is meant by development; (b) How the encounter between this process and traditional social structures (with their own functional logic, based on earlier forms of production and social existence) takes place; (c) What the implications of this encounter are; and (d) What lessons we can learn in this regard from history and anthropology. Development as a planned and organized process, the prime issue concerning both local and Western experts in Third World countries, is a recent phenomenon in comparison to the exposure of Third World countries to the Western Industrial system. The former gained momentum subsequent to the decolonization of the bulk of the Third World in the last half of this century, whereas the latter dates to at least the beginning of this century, if not earlier, when the repercussions of colonization, and later the two World Wars, became manifest in these countries.

scholarly journals Exploring Network Measures of Social Capital: Toward More Relational Measurement

2021 ◽  
pp. 088541222199941
Author(s):  
Bokyong Shin
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
The Third ◽  
Network Measures ◽  
Node Level ◽  
Relational Concept ◽  
Individual Asset

Although social capital is a relational concept, existing studies have focused less on measuring social relations. This article fills the gap by reviewing recent studies that used network measures grouped into three types according to the measurement level. The first group defined social capital as an individual asset and used node-level measures to explain personal benefits. The second group defined social capital as a collective asset and used graph-level measures to describe collective properties. The third group used subgraph-level measures to explain the development of social capital. This article offers a link between the concepts and measures of social capital.

Markets are constantly collapsing: Reconceptualizing ‘the market’ as a quantum social wavefunction

2021 ◽  
pp. 102452942098782
Author(s):  
Michael Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Open Economy ◽  
International Relations Theory ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Broad Framework

The quantum moment in International Relations theory challenges the taken for granted Newtonian assumptions of conventional theories, while offering a novel physical imaginary grounded in quantum mechanics. As part of the special issue on reconceptualizing markets, this article questions if prior efforts to conceptualize ‘the market’ have been unsuccessful at capturing the paradoxical microfoundational/macrostructural because of the Newtonian worldview within which much social science operates. By developing a new, quantum perspective on the market, taking the physical paradigm of the wavefunction, I seek to explore the connections between entanglement, nonlocality, interference and invisible social structures. To demonstrate the applicability of quantum thinking, I explore how global value chains and open economy politics might be ‘quantized’, through the mobilization of core concepts of quantum social theory, within the broad framework of the market as a quantum social wavefunction.

In Search of a Radical Discourse for Theatre

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (29) ◽  
pp. 34-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorrian Lambley
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Doctoral Thesis ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The University

How to accommodate and utilize the insights and the methodology of marxism – and, simply, its potential as a vehicle for social change – at a time when the popular perception of its political ideology stands discredited? Dorrian Lambley explores the dilemma through the specifics of developments in British theatre since 1968 – the stifling of the early radical impulses under political and economic pressures, which has produced, at best, a sense of marginalization, at worst a conviction of impotence. In proposing ways of working within this situation, Lambley draws on the writings of dramatists such as Edward Bond to suggest that marxism must recognize the most important of the liberal humanist emphases – ‘the presence of the subject’, but perceived within a marxist understanding of social relations. Dorrian Lambley is presently working on her doctoral thesis in the University of Exeter, where she helped to organize the conference ‘Theatre and the Discourses of Power’, on which she wrote in the ‘Reports and Announcements’ section of NTQ28 (1991).

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