Sociology, Capitalism, Critique

For years, the critique of capitalism was lost from public discourse; the very word "capitalism" sounded like a throwback to another era. Nothing could be further from the truth today. In this new intellectual atmosphere, Sociology, Capitalism, Critique is a contribution to the renewal of critical sociology, founded on an empirically grounded diagnosis of society's ills. The authors, Germany's leading critical sociologists-Klaus D-rre, Stephan Lessenich, and Hartmut Rosa-share a conviction that ours is a pivotal period of renewal, in which the collective endeavour of academics can amount to an act of intellectual resistance, working to prevent any regressive development that might return us to neoliberal domination. The authors discuss key issues, such as questions of accumulation and expropriation; discipline and freedom; and the powerful new concepts of activation and acceleration. Their politically committed sociology, which takes the side of the losers in the current crisis, places society's future well-being at the centre of their research. Their collective approach to this project is a conscious effort to avoid co-optation in the institutional practices of the academy. These three differing but complementary perspectives serve as an insightful introduction to the contemporary themes of radical sociology in capitalism's post-crisis phase.

Klaus D-rre is Professor of Sociology at the University of Jena and specializes in the sociology of labor as well as industrial and economic sociology. His areas of research include the theory of capitalism, finance capitalism, flexible and precarious employment, labour relations and strategic unionism, and the Green New Deal, among others. Hartmut Rosa is a Full Professor of Sociology and Sociological Theory at the Institute of Sociology at the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena. His areas of study include theories of modernity, the sociology of time, communitarianism, and social theory. He is the author of Social Acceleration: A New Theory of Modernity. Stephan Lessenich is Professor of Sociology at the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena and codirector (together with Klaus D-rre and Hartmut Rosa) of the German Research Foundation research group "Post-Growth Societies."