Ideology and utopia: Historic crisis of economic rationality and the role of public sociology

an article by Val Colic-Peisker (RMIT, Victoria, Australia) published in Journal of Sociology Volume 52 Issue 1 (March 2017)

Abstract

This article reflects on the role of public sociology in the debate on the systemic crisis of western capitalism reinvigorated by the 2007–8 global financial crisis.

The article argues that, in the current moment in history, sociologists have a professional duty to challenge the growing irrationality of the economically rational public discourse and to more vigorously uphold the formulation of alternative ‘real-utopian’ discourses.

The article first introduces capitalism’s core ideology – economic rationality – arguing that it has hardened into the irrational dogma of the ostensibly rational West, with an unrelenting grip on the public discourse, especially in the ‘neoliberal’ Anglosphere.

The ideology suppresses measures needed to address issues such as global warming and global financial disorder. Contemporary ‘Anglo’ sociology, including Australian sociology, is internally compartmentalized, self-referential and of marginal influence in the public sphere.

Moreover, it espouses economic rationality in its practice within increasingly corporatized universities, while maintaining a progressive cloak over its intellectual products.

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Too Soft for Economics, Too Rigid for Sociology, or Just Right? The Productive Ambiguities of Sen’s Capability Approach

an article by Milena I. Kremakova (Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick) published in European Journal of Sociology Volume 54 Issue 3 (December 2013)

Abstract

The capability approach has been developed by Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum and others as a human-centred normative framework for the evaluation of individual and group well-being, quality of life and social justice.

Sen and Nussbaum’s ideas have influenced global, national and local policy and have been further developed in a number of academic disciplines, but so far have remained largely unnoticed in sociology. This article examines recent capability-informed theories and empirical applications in the sociology of human rights and other academic fields adjacent to sociology, focusing on examples of social policy studies in the fields of welfare, the labour market, health and disability, and education.

The article outlines several potential areas in which capability-informed frameworks are relevant for critical social theory, public sociology and global sociology.