Undisiciplining II plenary session with Professor Ruth Levitas, Dr Lisa Garforth, Professor Rebecca Coleman and Professor Kat Jungnickel.
Conference programme description:
There is a strong historical commonality between sociology and utopia. As sociology emerged as
a distinct discipline, the antinomies of utopia versus science and fictive versus factual texts were intensified, but nevertheless the similarities remain. Both sociology and utopia are engaged in making explicit the processes and relations embedded in the social imaginary. However, they do this in slightly different ways.
Sociology foregrounds what utopia backgrounds, while utopia foregrounds what sociology represses. Sociological models are explicitly holistic, descriptive, explanatory and present- or past-oriented. They are, necessarily, imaginary; they are sometimes explicitly critical, normative and prescriptive, but more often implicitly so. Utopian models are explicitly holistic, imaginary, normative, prescriptive and often future-oriented. But most contain descriptions of present conditions and explanations of how social processes work and what needs to change.
Rehabilitating utopia within sociology requires that we understand utopia not
as a plan, but as a method of thinking both about present and possible future societies, making explicit the normative assumptions within sociology itself and breaking the silence about sociology’s potential contribution to an equitable and sustainable future.
Professor Ruth Levitas is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Bristol
Dr Lisa Garforth is Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Newcastle University
Professor Rebecca Coleman is Professor in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol
Professor Kat Jungnickel is Professor of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London
Visit our Undisciplining II website for further resources from the conference. thesociologicalreview.org/projects/undisciplining-ii/
NOTE: slides from Undisciplining II sessions will be available on the website in the coming weeks.
This video recording was made on the third day of the conference, 12 September 2024, at The Lowry, Salford, Greater Manchester.
Filmed and edited by Mat Johns
www.matjohnsfilmmaker.com/