
Sovereign Individuals of Capitalism (RLE Social Theory)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 8. August 2014
Book
Hardback
222 pages
978-1-138-78801-5 (ISBN)
Description
In this sequel to their acclaimed The Dominant Ideology Thesis, the authors develop their analysis of the social and cultural underpinnings of modern capitalism. They confront a central assumption of western culture: namely, that the individual is sovereign, and that capitalism above all other economic forms depends on individualism. These ideas have an unbroken history from Alexis de Tocqueville to Milton Friedman. The paradox of the modern world is that the moral emphasis on the individual is contradicted by the actual organization of economy and society.
The authors suggest that individualism and capitalism have no enduring or necessary relationship. Their linkage is entirely accidental and was confined to one particular historical period in the West. Against the background of what they term the Discovery of the Individual, the authors show how individualism gave capitalism a particular shape, and capitalism in turn highlighted the possessive features of the individual. Oriental capitalism and late capitalism in the West bear no particular relationship to individualism; indeed, they flourish best in the absence of individualistic culture. Collectivism increasingly dominates both economic and social life.
These issues once informed the sociological enterprise, but have not been systematically addressed in recent times. This book revives the classical tradition of the historical and comparative analysis of culture and economy in capitalist society, in the context of the late twentieth-century world.
The authors suggest that individualism and capitalism have no enduring or necessary relationship. Their linkage is entirely accidental and was confined to one particular historical period in the West. Against the background of what they term the Discovery of the Individual, the authors show how individualism gave capitalism a particular shape, and capitalism in turn highlighted the possessive features of the individual. Oriental capitalism and late capitalism in the West bear no particular relationship to individualism; indeed, they flourish best in the absence of individualistic culture. Collectivism increasingly dominates both economic and social life.
These issues once informed the sociological enterprise, but have not been systematically addressed in recent times. This book revives the classical tradition of the historical and comparative analysis of culture and economy in capitalist society, in the context of the late twentieth-century world.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
502 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-138-78801-5 (9781138788015)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Bryan S. Turner | Nicholas Abercrombie | Stephen Hill
Sovereign Individuals of Capitalism (RLE Social Theory)
Book
02/2016
1st Edition
Routledge
€47.80
Shipment within 10-20 days

Bryan S. Turner | Nicholas Abercrombie | Stephen Hill
Sovereign Individuals of Capitalism (RLE Social Theory)
E-Book
08/2014
1st Edition
Routledge
€41.99
Available for download

Bryan S. Turner | Nicholas Abercrombie | Stephen Hill
Sovereign Individuals of Capitalism (RLE Social Theory)
E-Book
08/2014
1st Edition
Routledge
€41.99
Available for download
Persons
Nicholas Abercrombie, Stephen Hill, Bryan S. Turner
Content
1. The Sociological Tradition 2. The Discovery of the Individual 3. Discourses of the Individual 4. The Bare Individual of Pioneer Capitalism 5. Cultural Contradictions of Modernity 6. The Dominance of Discourse?