Abstract
‘Practice theory’—a theory program that connects the goal of offering non-rationalist explanations to a strong focus on everyday routine activities, and builds on the work of Bourdieu but tries to gain a less narrow perspective—is being used more and more widely in the social sciences. Its advocates often argue that, since practice theory is a heuristic for doing empirical work, discussing it without addressing this empirical work cannot do justice to it. Therefore, this article analyses Reckwitz’s recently translated book on The Society of Singularities, which its author presents as an example of the advantages of (one dominant version of) practice theory. As will be shown, the book demonstrates that this version of practice theory does not fulfil its promises. Looking at its difficulties is instructive, however, because it helps see more clearly how the goal of an integrative ‘theory of practice’ could be achieved.
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© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Focus: Ukraine and Political Realism
- Mearsheimer, Realism, and the Ukraine War
- Realism, the War in the Ukraine, and the Limits of Diplomacy
- The End of Open Society Realism?
- Realism after Ukraine: A Critique of Geopolitical Reason from Monroe to Mearsheimer
- Discussion: Andreas Reckwitz and the Society of Singularities
- The Society of Singularities—10 Theses
- Does Practice Theory Work? Reckwitz’s Study of the ‘New Middle Class’ as an Example
- Self-Realization and Disappointment in the ‘Society of Singularities’
- The Theory of Everything: A Sympathetic Critique of Andeas Reckwitz’s The Society of Singularities
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Focus: Ukraine and Political Realism
- Mearsheimer, Realism, and the Ukraine War
- Realism, the War in the Ukraine, and the Limits of Diplomacy
- The End of Open Society Realism?
- Realism after Ukraine: A Critique of Geopolitical Reason from Monroe to Mearsheimer
- Discussion: Andreas Reckwitz and the Society of Singularities
- The Society of Singularities—10 Theses
- Does Practice Theory Work? Reckwitz’s Study of the ‘New Middle Class’ as an Example
- Self-Realization and Disappointment in the ‘Society of Singularities’
- The Theory of Everything: A Sympathetic Critique of Andeas Reckwitz’s The Society of Singularities