Facing Modernity - Ambivalence, Reflexivity and Morality

Barry Smart offers a wide-ranging and critical discussion of how issues of reflexivity, ethics and moral responsibility inform social and political thought. Through a critical discussion of the `ambivalent fruits' of social analysis, exemplified in particular by the work of Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard, Baudrillard, Vattimo, Beck, Bourdieu, Goffman, Giddens, Levinas and Bauman, this book submits that an important responsibility of social enquiry today is to engage critically with the moral difficulties and ethical dilemmas which have arisen in relation to modernity.

List of contents

Analysis after Ambivalence
Postmodern In(ter)ventions
Reflexivity, Modernity and Sociology
Responsible Subjects
Body, Self, Community
Ethical Relations
Indeterminate Justice
Morality after Ambivalence

About the author

Barry Smart is Professor of Sociology at the University of Portsmouth and has longstanding research interests in the fields of social theory, political economy, and philosophy. His research interests include critical social research ethics; higher education; and collaborative work on veganism, ethics, lifestyle and environment. 

Summary

The author of this work contends that an important responsibility of social enquiry is to engage critically with the moral difficulties and ethical dilemmas which have arisen with modernity. He discusses the work of theorists including Foucault, Beck, Derrida, Giddens and Levinas.

Product details

• Authors: Barry Smart
• Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 15.12.1998
• EAN: 9780761955207
• ISBN: 978-0-7619-5520-7
• No. of pages: 224
• Series: Published in Association with Theory, Culture & Society; Theory, Culture & Society (Pap; Published in Association with Theory, Culture & Society; Published in Association with
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Politics, society, business > Politics; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories