Norms of Answerability

Greg M. Nielsen is Associate Professor of Sociology at Concordia University and Adjunct Professor in the Graduate Programme in Social and Political Thought at York University. He is also the author of Le Canada de Radio-Canada: Sociologie Critique et Dialogisme Culturel.

"Bakhtin is a hot topic, and the Bakhtin scholarship behind this book is first rate. This book also makes an original contribution to discussions on post-national democracy." — Brian C. J. Singer, author of Society, Theory, and the French Revolution: Studies in the Revolutionary Imaginary"I think the author's use of Bakhtin's dialogism in order to provide a basis for negotiating between the extremes of ethnos and demos is an original and intellectually important contribution to social-political philosophy in an age that recognizes diversity as a major resource and problem for society." — Fred Evans, author of Psychology and Nihilism: A Genealogical Critique of the Computational Model of Mind

• Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction: Theory on the Borders of Sociology Syncrisis and Anacrisis: The State of Bakhtin StudiesCreativity and General Sociological TheoryThe Bridge between Culture and the Political 1. Diversity and Transcultural Ethics Disciplinary OrientationsDecentered Subjects and Critiques of Discourse EthicsThe Creative Side of the NormativeThe Normative Side of CreativityBetween the Creativity and the Normativity of the Act 2. Communicative Action or Dialogue? Communicative Action and Moral DevelopmentThe Limits of Universal ReasonDialogism: Mixing the Word and Style 3. The World of Other's Words Bakhtin and Voloshinov on the Subject of the UtteranceSocial and Ethical Worlds of Dialogue in DostoevskyThe Frankfurt TraditionHabermas's BreakGenres of Discourse in Literature and in TheoryFrom Dostoevsky to CalvinoConvergence and Difference 4. On the Sources of Young Bakhtin's Ethics (Kant, Vvedenskij, Simmel, Cohen ) Kant's Three PostulatesVvedenskij's Fourth PostulateSimmel's ShadowBakhtin and the Formal OughtCohen's "Discovery of Man as Fellowman"Influences and Steps 5. Action and Eros (Kant-Weber-Bakhtin ) Kant: Duties Toward the Body Concerning the Sexual ImpulseWeber: Action, Ethics, and ErosBakhtin: The Fourth Postulate and Body-DialogueEros and Action Today 6. Reflexive Subjectivity (Mead-Bakhtin) Philosophical and Disciplinary OrientationsBetween Consciousness and Language: The Ambiguity of ExperienceMurder, Confession, and CommunityWhy the Subject Is Behind UsAction Inside and Outside the Subject 7. Citizenship and National Identity On the Dialogue Between Ethnos and DemosIdentityFor and against the Nation 8. A Dialogue on the Nation in Postnational Time The Nation as a Sociology of Culture: The Quebec CaseHabermas: The Nation as Subjectless CommunicationTaylor: The Nation as a Politics of ConcessionKymlicka: On National MinoritiesAssociational Sovereignty: Fourth Way? 9. Conclusion: On Culture and the Political Notes Bibliography Index