symmetry and composition: on the pragmatic sociology of critique
DESCRIPTION
Bruno Latour has argued that “critique has run out of steam”, and proposes a new mode of critique as “compositionism:” bringing different practices, worlds and values to bear on each other. This paper argues that the research programme that Luc Boltanski calls the “pragmatic sociology of critique” answers both the specific problem posed by Latour and more general concerns about the relationship between practices of critique and the institutions they encounter. The paper is based upon an analysis of On Justification (Boltanski and Thévenot, 2006) and The New Spirit of Capitalism (Boltanski and Chiapello, 2005), as well as the field of inquiry that informs them. In these works, the authors present both a study of critique and a methodology for further study in that mode: both a pluralistic description of the “economies of justification” in everyday life, and a guide for effecting change. In particular, their research programme modifies critique in three ways: it acknowledges that everyday life is filled with critical moments; it draws analytical categories from the field itself; and it poses critique in a way that can be understood by those it addresses. This paper charts important methodological considerations for any study of culture that might desire to be “critical”.TRANSCRIPT
symmetry and composition:on the pragmatic sociology of critique
luke van rynuniversity of melbourne@myspaceghost
outline
what’s wrong with critique?what is the pragmatic sociology of critique?what is to be done?
what’s wrong with critique?
boltanski and chiapello (2005) the new spirit of capitalism
“the capitalist system … has discovered routes to its survival in critiques to it”
what is the pragmatic sociology of critique?
boltanski and thévenot (2006) on justification
“a situation that holds together … demonstrates its own justness”
economies of worth
inspirationdomestic
famecivic
marketindustrialnetwork
artists, childrentraditions, familiesopinions, esteemcollectivesprices, competitionexperts, efficiencyprojects
modes of critique
corrective situation is pollutednepotism
radical situation is framed wrongnetworking
dimensions of critique
artistic
social
freedom, authenticitysociété du spectacle
equality, justice#occupy
boltanski (2011) on critique
“semantic work and police work go together”
what is to be done?
“the critic is not the one who debunks, but the one who assembles”latour (2005) why has critique run out of steam?
callon and latour (1981) unscrewing the big leviathan
“each time [sociologists] interpret their surveys they inform the leviathan, transforming and performing it”
mouffe (2013) agonistics
“the process of composition always takes place in a terrain informed by power relations”
foucault (1997) on the genealogy of ethics
“my point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous”
thévenot, moody & lafaye (2000)in search of a ‘green’ polity
morgan, marsden & murdoch (2006)logics of food ecologies
fordyce & van ryn (forthcoming)critique and ethical branding
applied pragmatic sociology of critique
symmetry and composition:
on the pragmatic sociology of critique
luke van [email protected]
@myspaceghost