Utopia without Ideology

Description

This book explores and proposes original definitions of central terms in political sociology and social theory, including political culture, imaginary, ideology, and utopia, in a manner that renders the individual definitions consistent with one another as part of a single and general conceptual framework for understanding social action. Through a Weberian distinction between means, ends, and values, together with the thought of Alfred Schütz and phenomenological sociology more generally, it sheds light on the ways in which the book’s key concepts make sense of social action, advancing the view that, rather than some promised land or aspiration, utopia is a project of broad and far-reaching collective action realized in its own enactment. As such, the book will appeal to scholars of social theory, political sociology, and political theory. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Epigraph Table of Contents Introduction 1 A Finalistic Theory of Social Action The End of Disenchantment? Clarity and Consciousness Coherence and Adequacy Values, Ends, Means Time and Meaning Project of Action Notes 2 Political Culture Political and Civic Culture Civic Culture and Quality of Democracy Immanent and Non-Immanent Analysis Political Theory, Political Cultures, and Political Traditions Common Sense and Social Representations Symbols, Values, Options Notes 3 Social Imaginaries Science and Common Sense Bridging Ideologies Integration and Solidarity Modern Social Imaginaries Social Imaginaries Identity Without Politics Notes 4 Ideology Ideology and Unmasking End of Ideology Enlightenment and Ideology Theory of Ideology Project of Action and the Process of Valourization Politicizing Society Notes 5 Utopia A Brief History of Utopia The End of Utopias? Real Utopias Everyday Utopias Freely Feasible Utopias The European Utopia Notes Conclusions Bibliography Index