Addressing the problem of reflexivity in theories of reflexive modernisation : Subjectivity and structural contradiction
- Authors: Farrugia, David
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sociology Vol. 51, no. 4 (2015), p. 872-886
- Full Text: false
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- Description: This article addresses debates within theories of reflexive modernisation about the meaning of reflexivity for understanding contemporary subjectivities. The article demonstrates that the contribution that this concept could make to theories of modern subjectivity has been limited by the problematic assumption that reflexivity describes a form of critical rationality leading to emancipation from social constraint and the sovereign self-fashioning of identity. Both critiqued and defended on these grounds, debate about reflexivity and reflexive modernisation has been limited by a sociologically unsustainable vision of modern subjectivity, and has left theories of reflexive modernisation open to the accusation that they are blind to the relationship between subjectivity and social structure. In response, this article constructs a theory of reflexivity as a social practice which reflects the contradictions and insecurities intrinsic to modern social structures. Conceived as a social practice, reflexivity is a concept that combines the macro and the micro, the structural and the personal. Capturing historically specific forms of structural organisation, as well as the practices through which these structures are made into biographies, the concept of reflexive subjectivity can make a significant theoretical contribution to understandings of modern identities. © The Author(s) 2013.
The reflexive subject : Towards a theory of reflexivity as practical intelligibility
- Authors: Farrugia, David
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Current Sociology Vol. 61, no. 3 (2013), p. 283-300
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This article argues for a new perspective on the meaning and implications of reflexivity for understanding subjectivity. The two dominant perspectives on the genesis and consequences of reflexive subjectivities are discussed and critiqued in terms of the way they understand the relationship between reflexivity and the wider social world. Reflexive modernisation theory is critiqued for its empty and homogeneous view of reflexivity stemming ultimately from the absence of a theory of the subject. Critical realism is critiqued for its view of reflexivity as a disembodied rationality and its hostility to any connection between reflexivity and pre-reflexive foundations for identity. Drawing on the dialogue between these theories and practice theories, this article creates a new theory of reflexivity which overturns theoretical orthodoxies viewing reflexivity and social practice as opposed concepts. Based on insights from Bourdieu and other practice theorists, this article argues for a theory of reflexivity as actualising a practical intelligibility shaped by the dispositions of the habitus. Examples from empirical literature examining the relationship between reflexivity and class inequality support a theory of reflexive subjectivity based on principles of practice theory. © The Author(s) 2013.
- Description: 2003011105