Late Modernity in Crisis: Why We Need a Theory of Society

by Andreas Reckwitz, Hartmut Rosa

In times of entrenched social upheaval and multiple crises, we need the kind of social theory that is prepared to look at the big picture, analyze the broad developmental features of modern societies, their structural conditions and dynamics, and point to possible ways out of the crises we face. Over the last couple of decades, two German sociologists, Andreas Reckwitz and Hartmut Rosa, have sought to provide wide-ranging social theories of this kind. While their theories are very different, they share in common the view that the analysis of modernity as a social formation must be kept at the heart of sociology, and that the theory of society should ultimately serve to diagnose the crises of the present. In this book, Andreas Reckwitz and Hartmut Rosa join forces to examine the value and the limits of a theory of society today.  They provide clear and concise accounts of their own theories of society, explicate their key concepts – including “singularization” in the case of Reckwitz, “acceleration” and “resonance” in the case of Rosa – and draw out the implications of their theories for understanding the multiple crises we face today.  The result is a book that provides both an excellent introduction to the work of two of the most important sociologists writing today and a vivid demonstration of the value of the kind of bold social theory of modern societies that they espouse.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Theory, Society, Politics

224 pages, Hardcover

Published August 7, 2023

About the author

Andreas Reckwitz is a German sociologist and cultural theorist. He is professor at the institute of social sciences at Humboldt University Berlin.

Reckwitz studied sociology, Political science and philosophy in Bonn, Hamburg and Cambridge. He graduated 1994 in Cambridge, overseen by Anthony Giddens. He achieved his Dr. phil. in 1999 at Hamburg University. From 2001 to 2005 he worked there as assistant professor at the sociological faculty. In 2005 he became professor for sociology and sociology of culture at Konstanz University, 2010 professor for sociology of culture at the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder). In 2020 Reckwitz became professor for sociology and sociology of culture at Humboldt University in Berlin.

Reckwitz is a prominent proponent of social practice theory and contributed to its development as an encompassing social and cultural theory. This serves as basis for his works on subjectivation, creativity and singularization of the social life.

In 2017 he published his work on the structure of the current late modern society ,Die Gesellschaft der Singularitäten. Zum Strukturwandel der Moderne, which was published in English in 2020 as The Society of Singularities. In this book he analyses how economy, work, information technlogy, lifestyle, classes and politics follow a system which values singularity and devalues non-sigularity.

Reckwitz wrote several articles for the newspaper Die Zeit and appeared as an interview partner on the German national radio Deutschlandfunk Kultur discussing current socio-cultural and political trends and issues in western societies.

In 2019 Reckwitz was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation.

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of Germany's leading sociologists, Reckwitz and Rosa, ponder whether the social sciences are still able to find theoretical frameworks to describe "late modernity", die Spätmoderne, so our present time. Both start from their respective grand theories that have been discussed in earlier works: For Reckwitz, it's The Society of Singularities, for Rosa, Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World. In the first two chapters, they relate their latest findings in these fields respectively, in the last section, they directly discuss them with each other while attempting to position them within the history of larger sociological concepts, thinking about how they might grasp society as a whole.

Very intersting stuff, but you have to be willing to read a highly complex text that sometimes seems to dwell in its own lingo although many thoughts could easily be expressed in a way more accessible way - and when the social sciences want to be relevant, they should really consider re-thinking how they present their thoughts. If your ideas are interesting and strong, a more accessible language will only highlight that.

[Finn Schulz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zwei geniale Soziologen im konstruktiven Austausch. Ohne meinen Lesekreis hätte ich nicht ansatzweise so viel mitgenommen

[Iamthesword · Rating 3 out of 5]

he two most influentual current German sociologists, Andreas Reckwitz and Hartmut Rose, reflect together on the function of social theory to understand our present. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it kinda is.

Apart from the forgettable introduction and a moderated debate at the end (more on that later), they don't write together. The main part of the books are two long essays which are both written by either Reckwitz or Rosa. The Reckwitz essay is pretty good, arguing for a more practical use of theory (theory as a tool) and developing a theory of modernity as tension between rationalization and culturalization (the general vs the specific). I lThe connections to actual historical research are visible (something which can't be taken for granted when it comes to sociology) and I liked Reckwitz's call to not only look at a theory's shortcomings, but to focus also on their strengths (something academic debates are rather weak at).

Then it's Rosa's turn: He's doing the polar opposite: Arguing that theory needs to explain everything or elso go home (theory as a system). The rest is basically a summary of his earlier works (acceleration theory and resonance theory) - debatable from a historigraphic standpoint and lacking when it comes to specific detail. There is also a weird normativity in the parts about resonance. I haven't been a fan of his works before and this is not really more than a a rehash.

And finally, the discussion: For a book that is adressed at a wider audience, it is way too technical. Reckwitz and Rosa often anwer too each other by namedropping concepts or theorists which makes it hard to follow if one doesn't know all them. The host also doesn't do much to make the whole thing more accesible - he seems rather eager to show that he can do this kind of hyperspecific talking, too. Moreover, the impression of the essays is reproduced: While it's clear that Reckwitz acknoledges the limits of his own explanations and seems eager to advance through debating them, Rosa appears as completely convinced of himself and unwilling to really consider justified criticism. In some places, this was rather unpleasant to read (I felt a bit sorry for Andreas Reckwitz who had to sit).

I would suggest reading the essay by Reckwitz and skip the rest. It's the (only) highpoint of this volume. 2,5 rounded up in sympathy for Reckwitz.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not want to rate this. But I will.

Andreas Reckwitz and Hartmut Rose reflect on what social theory can do. I would like to be able to talk about both men, but honestly, they are not writing this together. There is a banal, if informative, introduction, and then both tell us what they think. This is where I realised that I like Reckwitz, who argues for social theory as a toolkit, to be used in parts wherever needed. He has some insightful ideas about why theory is often talked about wrongly at university, and actually made me re-evaluate how I read theory. Easily 4 stars.

Then Rosa comes along and he... Rosas? Theory as a system is his sell, and he does this mainly by pointing out that he has previously developed a theory as a system system, and since he is clearly right, so is his approach. He is unable to step back from what he has already formulated, and so his chapter becomes the Rosa show. 2 stars, I think.

And then there's an interview with both of them, trying to bring both parts together, but it really doesn't work. Rosa is intellectually outclassed, and the interviewer seems to counteract this by asking really bad questions. He fails at his job, which is to moderate and synthesise what Reckwitz and Rosa are saying. Rosa remains relentless and does not engage with the arguments put forward by Reckwitz, who in turn is almost mean while horribly polite. I really did not like it. Maximum 2 points.

So... Not sure who needs to read this. If you are doing theory as a student, you might want to take a look at Reckwitz. Not perfect, but relatively interesting. The rest i do not care for at all.

[Max Kühlem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch lohnt sich vor allem für Hartmut Rosas Part, in dem er auf rund 100 Seiten seine Gesellschafts- und Sozialtheorie aus den Bänden "Beschleunigung" und "Resonanz" toll zusammenfasst.

[Yisu Z. · Rating 4 out of 5]

非常精彩一本集子。除了两位德国社会理论家的思想火花之外，更有意思的恐怕是那种面对和我自己的工作完全不同路数的作品时的微妙失衡感（dissonance），不管是莱克维茨的实践理论（对我来说是最好的切入点纯粹就我自己的兴趣而言），也许对其他的读者来说是罗萨的加速理论，都是如此。我甚至很确定郑老师在导读里试图说服读者的两种社会理论的区别，对我而言没那么信服，很奇妙。