ABSTRACT
In today’s individualized, culturally diverse and globalized society, many sociologists have concluded that the conceptualizations developed by classical sociology are no longer sufficient to promote social cohesion. So what kind of solidarity can achieve this? Engaging with recent thought in social and political theory and philosophy (including Honneth, Forst, Ricoeur, Bauman, Sennett, Taylor, Rawls, MacIntyre and many others), this book develops a renewed concept of solidarity based on the notion of ‘recognition’ with regard to others.
With attention to the implications of such an account for justice and judgement – particularly where competing claims for recognition arise – Solidarity in Individualized Societies examines what, in a society based on recognition, a fair distribution of recognition would mean. The book provides a critical analysis of trends in modern culture and in the policy on welfare that seem to constitute obstacles to solidarity and social cohesion. It is a rigorous examination of forms of solidarity that may sustain social cohesion in the contemporary Western world.
This book will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, social theory, politics and philosophy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |17 pages
Ideas, Theoretical Perspectives and Assumptions
part |24 pages
Meta-Theoretical Orientation
chapter |22 pages
A Critical Hermeneutic Approach
part |92 pages
The Normative Ideal
chapter |27 pages
The Discussion of the Good Versus the Just
chapter |26 pages
Contexts of Justice and Good Judgement
part |73 pages
The Critical Analysis