On Justification

Luc Boltanski is Professor at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. He is the author of "Distant Suffering: Morality, Media and Politics, Le Nouvel Esprit du Capitalisme", and (with Laurent Thevenot) "Les Economies de la Grandeur". Laurent Thevenot is Professor at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. He is the author of "L'action au pluriel: Sociologie des regimes d'engagement", coauthor of "Les Economies de la Grandeur", and coeditor of "Les Objets dans L'Action, Cognition et Information en Societe", and (with Michele Lamont) "Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States"

"Boltanski and Thévenot's On Justification is one of the most important contributions to the field of economic sociology in the past decade. It does not fit neatly into any of the major theoretical perspectives that currently dominate the field—institutionalism, organizational ecology, network analysis, rational choice, or transaction-cost economics. But precisely because it is so original, it has great potential to chart new territory and enliven debates. The book has already had an enormous impact in France, where it is one of the founding documents of the 'economics of conventions' school. It is sure to have a big impact in sociology in the United States and Britain too. I could list at least twenty major sociologists who have asked me when the book will be translated."—David Stark, Columbia University

• PREFACE How We Wrote This Book 1 Generalizing Field Observations and Producing Statistical Equivalency 1 Ordinary Identification and Scientific Qualification 3 From Comparison to Judgment 4 Construction of Proofs and Tension between the General and the Particular 7 The Tension between Different Forms of Generality 8 Attention to Critical Operations 10 Generality and the Common Goo d: Concepts of Worth in Political Philosophy 12 The Search for a Common Model 14 The Social Bond Put to the Test of Things 16 The Line of Argument 18 PART ONE: THE IMPERATIVE TO JUSTIFY 23 CHAPTER ONE: The Social Sciences and the Legitimacy of Agreement 25 The Critique of Sociology's Lack of Realism 26 Individualis m: A Different Social Metaphysics 27 Political Metaphysics as a Social Science 28 The Question of Agreement 31 Association and Forms of Generality 32 The Order of the General and the Particular 35 The Requirement of General Agreement and the Legitimacy of Order 37 The Reality Test and Prudent Judgment 40 CHAPTER TWO: The Foundation of Agreement in Political Philosophy: The Example of the Market Polity 43 A Social Bond Based on an Inclination toward Exchange in One's Own Interest 44 Individuals in Concert in Their Lust for Goods 48 The Sympathetic Disposition and the Position of Impartial Spectator 53 PART TWO: THE POLITIES 63 CHAPTER THREE: Political Orders and a Model of Justice 65 Political Philosophies of the Common Good 66 The Polity Model 74 An Illegitimate Orde r: Eugenics 80 CHAPTER FOUR: Political Forms of Worth 83 The Inspired Polity 83 The Domestic Polity 90 The Polity of Fame 98 The Civic Polity 107 The Industrial Polity 118 PART THREE: THE COMMON WORLDS 125 CHAPTER FIVE: Judgment Put to the Test 127 Situated Judgment 127 The Polity Extended to a Common World 130 Tests 133 Reporting on Situations 138 A Framework for Analyzing the Common Worlds 140 The Sense of the Commo n: The Moral Sense and the Sense of What Is Natural 144 The Arts of Living in Different Worlds 148 CHAPTER SIX: The Six Worlds 159 The Inspired World 159 The Domestic World 164 The World of Fame 178 The Civic World 185 The Market World 193 The Industrial World 203 PART FOUR: CRITIQUES 213 CHAPTER SEVEN: Worlds in Confiict, Judgments in Question 215 Unveiling 215 Causes of Discord and the Transport of Worths 219 Clashes and Denunciations 223 The Monstrosity of Composite Setups 225 Setting Up Situations that Hold Together 228 The Humanity of an Equitable Judgment 231 Free Wil l: Knowing How to Close and Open One's Eyes 232 EIGHT The Critical Matrix 237 Critiques from the Inspired World 237 Critiques from the Domestic World 241 Critiques from the World of Fame 247 Critiques from the Civic World 251 Critiques from the Market World 261 Critiques from the Industrial World 269 PART FIVE: ASSUAGING CRITICAL TENSIONS 275 CHAPTER NINE: Compromising for the Common Good 277 Beyond Testing to Compromising 277 The Fragility of Compromises 278 An Example of a Complex Figur e: Denunciation Supported by Compromise 282 Composing Compromises and Forming Polities 283 Developing a State Compromis e: Toward a Civic-Industrial Polity 285 CHAPTER TEN: Figures of Compromise 293 Compromises Involving the Inspired World 293 Compromises Involving the Domestic World 304 Compromises Involving the World of Fame 317 Compromises Involving the Civic World 325 Compromises Involving the Market World 332 CHAPTER ELEVEN: Relativization 336 Private Arrangements 336 Insinuation 338 Flight from Justification 339 Relativism 340 Violence and Justification 343 Afterwor d: Toward a Pragmatics of Reflection 347 The Place of Justifications in the Gamut of Actions 347 Below the Level of Public Judgment: Determining the Appropriate Action in Light of a Snag 348 From Anger to Crisis 350 The Moment of Truth in Judgment 351 The Tension of Judgment and the Qualification of Ungraspable Persons 352 Judgment between Power and Oblivion 354 The Humane Use of Judgment and Tolerance in Action 355 Knowledge about Actions 356 NOTES 359 WORKS CITED 375