Ethics, Economy and Social Science: Dialogues with Andrew Sayer

Description

This book is a collection of critical engagements with Andrew Sayer, one of the foremost postdisciplinary thinkers of our times, with responses from Sayer himself. Sayer’s ground-breaking contributions to the fields of geography, political economy and social theory have reshaped the terms of engagement with issues and debates running from the methodology of social science through to the environment, and industrial development to the ethical dimensions of everyday life. Transatlantic scholars across a wide range of fields explore his work across four main areas: critical realism; moral economy; political economy; and relations between social theory, normativity and class. This is the first full-length critical assessment of Sayer’s work. It will be of interest to readers in sociology, economics, political economy, social and political philosophy, ethics, social policy, geography and urban studies, from upper-undergraduate levels upwards. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Contributors Introduction Part I: The Nature and Scope of Realism Part II: Dimensions of Moral Economy Part III: Applications in Political Economy Part IV: Social Theory, Normativity and Class Part I The Nature and Scope of Realism Chapter 1 Why Andrew Sayer Matters Why Things Matter to People Note References Chapter 2 Andrew Sayer: Human Nature and Social Critique References Chapter 3 Objectivity and Normativity Critical Social Science and the Modernist Dualisms Overcoming the Scholastic Fallacy Abstraction and Authority Academic Knowledge and the Problem of Changing Constitutive Commitments Education, Dissatisfaction and Change Conclusion References Chapter 4 Abstract and Concrete: Some (More) Groundwork Introduction Format Some Dictionary and Encyclopaedia Entries Terminology The Abstract and the Concrete The Abstract Introducing Conceptions The Concrete Etymology Versus Contemporary Use Abstraction: Extraction Or Exclusion? Processes and Their Products Internal and External Abstraction Unsatisfactory Abstractions Conclusion: What Next? Abstracting, Idealising and Isolating Two Approaches to the Move From Abstract to Concrete Notes References Part II Dimensions of Moral Economy Chapter 5 Critical Realism and Moral Economy: Sympathetic Reflections On Andrew Sayer’s Work Critical Realism in General Sayer On Critical Realism Critical Realism in Particular Concluding Remarks Acknowledgements References Chapter 6 Why (Mundane) Things Matter: From Moral Economy to Foundational Economy Introduction Why Things Matter to People: Values-In-Analysis From Moral Economy to Foundational Economy: Values-In-Action Financing Foundational Activity Procuring Foundational Activity Governing Foundational Activity Greening Foundational Activity Conclusions References Chapter 7 Moral Economy: A Framework and a Manifesto The Economy as a Moral Economy Moral Economy as a Mode of Enquiry Moral Economy as Critique The Influence of Moral Economy What Does Moral Economy Contribute to Explanatory Work? How Does Moral Economy Contribute to Critique? Conclusion References Chapter 8 Putting Resistance Back in Moral Economy Sayer’s Moral Economy Perspective Moral Economists On Collective Action Sayer On Compliance and Resistance Rentierism in Central Asia: Harms and Resistance Conclusion Note References Part III Applications in Political Economy Chapter 9 Andrew Sayer On Inequality, Climate Emergency and Ecological Breakdown: Can We Afford the Rich? Sayer’s ‘Twist in the Tail’ A Growth System and Why We Can’t Afford the Rich Who Are (Maybe You Are) the Rich A Short Five Years: A Worsening Climate and Ecological Situation, the Pandemic and Exacerbated Inequality Conclusion Notes References Chapter 10 Hard Work: Restructuring, Realism and Regions Introduction: Starting Out Contingent Geographer Restructuring Work Conclusion: Getting Out Notes References Chapter 11 Varieties of Unfreedom Prologue The Varieties of Unfreedom Agents, Victims and Vulnerability Voluntary and Involuntary Action Compulsion By Necessity Necessities of Obligation Domination, Dependence and Unfreedom Notes References Chapter 12 The Persistent Radicalism of Andrew Sayer References Part IV Social Theory, Normativity and Class Chapter 13 A Social Scientist for Our Times: Unravelling the Moral Morass of Class, Wealth, Profit and Oppression Introduction Wealth Extraction and the Destruction of the Welfare State The Emotional Violence of Class Inequalities in English Education An Abnegation of Moral as Well as Educational Responsibility?: Bottom Set Children Class Contempt and Moral Dereliction Conclusion References Chapter 14 The Elephant in the Room: Sayer On Social Class Introduction A Few Theses Revisiting Sayer References Chapter 15 From Dispositions to Interaction and Relations Ethical Dispositions and Beyond Conclusion Notes References Chapter 16 Ordinary Inequality: Sayer, Political Theory and the Human Good Introduction Three Divides Sayer, Political Theory and the Human Good Concluding Note: Sayer and the Political Note References Part V Responses Chapter 17 Responses to the Contributors Space, Theory and Economic Development Critical Realism Ethical Life, Habitus and Naturalism Moral Economy Inequality and the Rich Environment Notes References Index