Bringing together authors from two intellectual traditions that have, so far, generally developed independently of one another - critical theory and new materialism - this book addresses the fundamental differences and potential connections that exist between these two schools of thought. With a focus on some of the most pressing questions of contemporary philosophy and social theory - in particular, those concerning the status of long-standing and contested separations between matter and life, the biological and the symbolic, passivity and agency, affectivity and rationality - it shows that recent developments in both traditions point to important convergences between them and thus prepare the ground for a more direct confrontation and cross-fertilization. The first volume to promote a dialogue between critical theory and new materialism, this collection explores the implications for contemporary debates on ecology, gender, biopolitics, post-humanism, economics and aesthetics. As such, it will appeal to philosophers, social and political theorists, and sociologists with interests in contemporary critical theory and materialism.

This volume explores the challenges posed to sociological theory and social science research by a growing need to foreground perspectives stemming from, and accounting for, subaltern groups, marginal categories, the Global South, and other politically peripheral regions. De-Centering Global Sociology radically questions some of the most enduring assumptions within sociological thought and social science research and illustrates the impacts of de-centering critical concepts in public policy and education. It proposes new places to build social theory, beyond Europe and the United States, offering debates on the present and future of the social sciences. This peripheral turn also has impacts on the development of pedagogical practices, curricula, and educational research that are more inclusive, and in a position to promote global citizenship. This book will be a valuable resource for researchers and academics with an interest in global social theory, decolonial and postcolonial studies, political theory, feminism, critical race theory, economic sociology, inequality studies, urban sociology, and the sociology of work, religion, and education. It will be of particular interest to those with a focus on citizenship, social policy, conviviality, social integration and solidarity, and new perspectives on multicultural education.

Bringing together authors from two intellectual traditions that have, so far, generally developed independently of one another - critical theory and new materialism - this book addresses the fundamental differences and potential connections that exist between these two schools of thought. With a focus on some of the most pressing questions of contemporary philosophy and social theory - in particular, those concerning the status of long-standing and contested separations between matter and life, the biological and the symbolic, passivity and agency, affectivity and rationality - it shows that recent developments in both traditions point to important convergences between them and thus prepare the ground for a more direct confrontation and cross-fertilization. The first volume to promote a dialogue between critical theory and new materialism, this collection explores the implications for contemporary debates on ecology, gender, biopolitics, post-humanism, economics and aesthetics. As such, it will appeal to philosophers, social and political theorists, and sociologists with interests in contemporary critical theory and materialism.