Against the status quo: the social as a resource of critique in realist political theory

Westphal, Manon

doi:10.1080/13698230.2022.2120660

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosoph

2022

DOI: 10.1080/13698230.2022.2120660

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Against the status quo: the social as a resource of critique in realist political theory

Manon Westphal

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Cited by 7 publications

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“…Other variants exist (e.g. Bagg, 2021; Cabrera, 2020; Cross, 2021; Kreutz, 2022; Raekstad, 2016; Thaler, 2017; Westphal, 2022). Much of this work is inspired by Raymond Geuss’ (2008) general take on realism, and by some aspects of Bernard Williams’ (2005).…”

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Fact-Centric Political Theory, Three Ways: Normative Behaviourism, Grounded Normative Theory, and Radical Realism

Rossi

2023

Political Studies Review

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In the last two decades, Anglophone political theory witnessed a renewed interest in social-scientific empirical findings – partly as a reaction against normative theorising centred on the formulation of abstract, intuition-driven moral principles. This brief article begins by showing how this turn has taken two distinct forms: (1) a nonideal theoretical orientation, which seeks to balance the emphasis on moral principles with feasibility and urgency considerations, and (2) a fact-centric orientation, which seeks to ground normative conclusions in empirical results. The core of the article then compares and contrasts three variants of fact-centric political theory: normative behaviourism, grounded normative theory and radical realism. The upshot: normative behaviourism achieves focus on observable behaviour at the cost of status quo bias, grounded normative theory achieves radicalism at the cost of endorsing an activist orientation to theorising and radical realism combines a non-activist orientation with the potential for far-reaching critique of the status quo.

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Fact-Centric Political Theory, Three Ways: Normative Behaviourism, Grounded Normative Theory, and Radical Realism

Rossi

2023

Political Studies Review

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Ideology Critique without Morality: A Radical Realist Approach

Aytaç

Rossi

2022

Am Polit Sci Rev

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What is the point of ideology critique? Prominent Anglo-American philosophers recently proposed novel arguments for the view that ideology critique is moral critique, and ideologies are flawed insofar as they contribute to injustice or oppression. We criticize that view and make the case for an alternative and more empirically oriented approach, grounded in epistemic rather than moral commitments. We make two related claims: (a) ideology critique can debunk beliefs and practices by uncovering how, empirically, they are produced by self-justifying power and (b) the self-justification of power should be understood as an epistemic rather than moral flaw. Drawing on the recent realist revival in political theory, we argue that this genealogical approach has more radical potential, despite being more parsimonious than morality-based approaches. We demonstrate the relative advantages of our view by discussing the results of empirical studies on the contemporary phenomenon of neopatriarchy in the Middle East and North Africa.

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Paths to a world without families: reasons, means, and ends in family abolitionism

Cockburn

2024

Contemp Polit Theory

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The present article is a sympathetic critique of the most prominent contemporary articulations of family abolitionism. It examines whether queer communist family abolitionism is successful in linking an account of reasons for abolition, with an account of the means of abolition, and finally with an account of the ends of abolition in the form of speculation on a possible world without families. Recent work by M.E. O’Brien has developed these connections in ways that have never been done so thoroughly before; but the rejection of states as an institutional form of political power leaves it unclear what forms of equality we could expect in such a world, and why coercive power would be unnecessary there. Family abolition is a utopian political agenda; but that utopianism needs to be constrained by a realist concern with issues of power, resources, and human capacities. This will require confronting trade-offs and imperfections within possible worlds without families. The recognition that there are many paths to a world without families, and many possible such worlds, is the first step towards aligning reasons, means, and ends and confronting the social and political trade-offs that this entails.

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Against the status quo: the social as a resource of critique in realist political theory

Cited by 7 publications

References 29 publications

Fact-Centric Political Theory, Three Ways: Normative Behaviourism, Grounded Normative Theory, and Radical Realism

Fact-Centric Political Theory, Three Ways: Normative Behaviourism, Grounded Normative Theory, and Radical Realism

Ideology Critique without Morality: A Radical Realist Approach

Paths to a world without families: reasons, means, and ends in family abolitionism

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