New Order of Social Things – serie

Through stories, conversations, and essays, this book pursues interwoven critical and philosophical inquiries into the nature of the contemporary in the North Atlantic, asking how are we to live as intellectuals, individually and in community?Social Thought From the Ruins: Quixote’s Dinner Party is the product of informal discussion and academic work done over the last two decades among an international group of social scientists. An extended critique of academic life today and the context of our own thinking, this book interrogates aspects of our modernity, with its pervasive sense of crisis and uncertainty, and the difficulty of thinking clearly about things like the state and power, data and violence. Reflecting that the United States, indeed the North Atlantic countries, seem to have entered autumn, David A. Westbrook asks what spring might be. Will the critical social sciences have anything to offer the exercise of power, or are we doomed to incessant and ineffectual critique? Can bureaucracy be made at least more accountable, if not democratic? Conversely, can we feel less alienated from the structures of power that rule us, or that fail to govern at all? Can we feel at home?The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Through stories, conversations, and essays, this book pursues interwoven critical and philosophical inquiries into the nature of the contemporary in the North Atlantic, asking how are we to live as intellectuals, individually and in community?Social Thought From the Ruins: Quixote’s Dinner Party is the product of informal discussion and academic work done over the last two decades among an international group of social scientists. An extended critique of academic life today and the context of our own thinking, this book interrogates aspects of our modernity, with its pervasive sense of crisis and uncertainty, and the difficulty of thinking clearly about things like the state and power, data and violence. Reflecting that the United States, indeed the North Atlantic countries, seem to have entered autumn, David A. Westbrook asks what spring might be. Will the critical social sciences have anything to offer the exercise of power, or are we doomed to incessant and ineffectual critique? Can bureaucracy be made at least more accountable, if not democratic? Conversely, can we feel less alienated from the structures of power that rule us, or that fail to govern at all? Can we feel at home?The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Examining the concept of TimeSpace in the work of Immanuel Wallerstein and its crucial role within world-systems analysis, Uncertainties of Time brings together important but previously hard-to-access material from Wallerstein’s writings.TimeSpace is a concept developed from his earliest days in the 1970s until well into the twenty-first century, drawing from the historian Fernand Braudel and the chemist Ilya Prigogine to rethink historical time’s two overlooked modes—long enduring or eternal time, on the one hand, and, on the other, uncertainty in world-systems. Wallerstein, thereby, invented a fresh version of historical social science that brought together the customary disciplines associated with economics, politics, and sociology.This book is an essential volume for understanding Immanuel Wallerstein’s unique contributions to the understanding of the modern world-system, which he argued came to an end after the world revolution of 1968—leaving us now in an indeterminate world of chaos. This is thereby a sourcebook for researchers and students who care about the history and decline of our now chaotic world.

Examining the concept of TimeSpace in the work of Immanuel Wallerstein and its crucial role within world-systems analysis, Uncertainties of Time brings together important but previously hard-to-access material from Wallerstein’s writings.TimeSpace is a concept developed from his earliest days in the 1970s until well into the twenty-first century, drawing from the historian Fernand Braudel and the chemist Ilya Prigogine to rethink historical time’s two overlooked modes—long enduring or eternal time, on the one hand, and, on the other, uncertainty in world-systems. Wallerstein, thereby, invented a fresh version of historical social science that brought together the customary disciplines associated with economics, politics, and sociology.This book is an essential volume for understanding Immanuel Wallerstein’s unique contributions to the understanding of the modern world-system, which he argued came to an end after the world revolution of 1968—leaving us now in an indeterminate world of chaos. This is thereby a sourcebook for researchers and students who care about the history and decline of our now chaotic world.

Addressing the complex interplay between climate change, democratic governance, and scientific knowledge in the Anthropocene era, this book focuses on how political systems respond to the global ecological crisis and to what extent they are structurally capable of doing so.The World We Have Created: Climate, Democracy and Knowledge details how the de-democratization of ecological decision-making favors models of authoritarian governance, as democratic values such as transparency, participation, and accountability are continually undermined. Offering a robust account of the responses to the climate crisis and the necessary social and political changes posed by the scientific consensus, this book analyses the growing discrepancy between scientific knowledge about the causes and consequences of climate change and the lack of political and social willingness to implement necessary measures. Comprehensive social change is needed that focuses on social justice, intergenerational responsibility, and political participation, and it is only by strengthening democratic structures and integrating knowledge into responsible governance can we open paths to a resilient, just, and liveable future.This sharp, interdisciplinary intervention bridges sociological, political, and philosophical thinking to underline the necessity of hope and utopian social imagination together with concrete changes to the constitution that guarantees a safe environment for future generations.

Addressing the complex interplay between climate change, democratic governance, and scientific knowledge in the Anthropocene era, this book focuses on how political systems respond to the global ecological crisis and to what extent they are structurally capable of doing so.The World We Have Created: Climate, Democracy and Knowledge details how the de-democratization of ecological decision-making favors models of authoritarian governance, as democratic values such as transparency, participation, and accountability are continually undermined. Offering a robust account of the responses to the climate crisis and the necessary social and political changes posed by the scientific consensus, this book analyses the growing discrepancy between scientific knowledge about the causes and consequences of climate change and the lack of political and social willingness to implement necessary measures. Comprehensive social change is needed that focuses on social justice, intergenerational responsibility, and political participation, and it is only by strengthening democratic structures and integrating knowledge into responsible governance can we open paths to a resilient, just, and liveable future.This sharp, interdisciplinary intervention bridges sociological, political, and philosophical thinking to underline the necessity of hope and utopian social imagination together with concrete changes to the constitution that guarantees a safe environment for future generations.

In this dynamic book, Charles Lemert elaborates a vigorous, distinctive, and creative American tradition in social thought.American social theory has tended to be overshadowed by European social thought. Yet, looking deeper, Americans have always made important contributions to social theory. Drawing upon the work of a dazzling array of both seminal and unjustly overlooked philosophers, sociologists, litterateurs, and political activists, Lemert constructs a coherent yet variegated intellectual framework for understanding American social theory and culture from the colonial era to the present. In doing so, Lemert analyses American intellectual attitudes on race, gender, popular culture, political thought, capitalism, and social movements, while also exploring schools of thought from transcendentalism and pragmatism to interactionism and intersectionality.In his inimitable style, Charles Lemert, a master of "finding theory where you’d least expect it," offers a masterful rendering of the American tradition in social theory. In doing so, Lemert shines new light on social theory and American history. Both authoritative and accessible, this indispensable work will be essential reading for students, scholars, and general readers with interests in social theory and American social history.