Reconstruction or Negation: On the Transformative Potential of Axel Honneth’s Immanent Critique

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  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2. Classical Theorists

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the critical theory of Axel Honneth and the four traditions of social critique: external, internal, immanent, and genealogical. Through a reinterpretation of Hegel, Honneth has developed the theories of recognition and social freedom that are capable of explaining society’s rational progress as well as its forms of pathology; and in doing so, he has defended immanent critique as the most methodologically sound approach for engaging in context-transcending critique. I show that Honneth has two conflicting logics to his own approach: one is rooted in the lived experience of injustice and social misrecognition of agents, and the other is rooted in the historically reconstructed moral principles inherent in social institutions. While each framework is capable of exposing the irrational distortion of human relations by social structures and pointing toward an emancipatory future where such conditions are overcome, the exact nature of the process of change and the envisioned scope of transformation are ambiguous. In particular, Honneth’s later project of reconstructing the ideal of social freedom has placed limits on the extent to which the democratic-capitalist order can be criticized – resulting politically in a liberal-reformist and apologist agenda. I argue that a more negativistic definition of immanent critique is required, where the focus is on negating irrational or harmful practices rather than realizing an underlying principle of an institution. Making this shift would allow the deployed normative standard to evolve dialectically with society itself, resulting in a more dynamic and open-ended program of social critique. By addressing theoretical advancements made in recent scholarship, and focusing specifically on the topics of labor and cooperative democracy, I try to demonstrate that this reconfiguration to Honneth’s critical theory is feasible and fruitful.

Author

• Yotaro Natani, Waseda University