Social Sciences for an Other Politics

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

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2. The Radical Subject and Its Critical Theory: An Introduction

   • Ana Cecilia Dinerstein

   Pages 1-15

3. Epistemological Openings

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17

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   2. Learning Hope. An Epistemology of Possibility for Advanced Capitalist Society

      • Sarah Amsler

      Pages 19-32

   3. Decolonising Critique: From Prophetic Negation to Prefigurative Affirmation

      • Sara C. Motta

      Pages 33-48

   4. Denaturalising Society: Concrete Utopia and the Prefigurative Critique of Political Economy

      • Ana Cecilia Dinerstein

      Pages 49-62

4. The (Re)production of Life

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 63-63

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   2. Transgressing Gender and Development: Rethinking Economy Beyond ‘Smart Economics’

      • Suzanne Bergeron

      Pages 65-77

   3. Producing the Common and Reproducing Life: Keys Towards Rethinking the Political

      • Raquel Gutiérrez Aguilar, Lucia Linsalata, Mina Lorena Navarro Trujillo

      Pages 79-92

   4. Talking About Nature: Ecolinguistics and the Natureculture Paradigm

      • Francesca Zunino Harper

      Pages 93-105

5. Social Movements and Prefigurative Politics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 107-107

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   2. The Prefigurative Is Political: On Politics Beyond ‘The State’

      • Emily Brissette

      Pages 109-119

   3. The Prefigurative Turn: The Time and Place of Social Movement Practice

      • Marianne Maeckelbergh

      Pages 121-134

   4. Rethinking Social Movements with Societies in Movement

      • Marina Sitrin

      Pages 135-149

6. Back Matter

   Pages 151-155

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This book opens up a unique intellectual space where eleven female scholar-activists explore alternative forms of theorising social reality. These‘Women on the Verge’ demonstrate that a new radical subject– one that is plural, prefigurative, decolonial, ethical, ecological, communal and democratic- is in the making, but is unrecognisable with old analytical tools. Of central concern to the book is the resistance of some social scientists, many of them critical theorists, to learning about this radical subject and to interrogating the concepts, methodologies and epistemologies used to grasp it. Echoing the experiential critique of capitalist-colonial society that is taking place at the grassroots, the authors examine how to create hope, decolonise critique and denaturalise society. They also address the various dimensions of the social (re)production of life, including women in development, the commons, and nature. Finally, they discuss the dynamics of prefiguration by social movements, critiquing social movement theory in the process. This thought-provoking edited collection will appeal to students and scholars of gender studies, social, Marxist and Feminist theory, postcolonial studies and politics.

• Collective subjectivities
• Grassroots
• Citizen mobilization
• Protest
• Political alternatives
• Production
• Self-management
• Cooperative work
• Radical theory
• Social emanicipation

“What a joy it is to greet this inspirational book of engaged feminist political theory. I love the image of our thinkers floating down from on high, some free flying, some with parachutes entangled into webs of collectivity, all, aiming to land on an earth that has been transformed by their courageous work. J.K. Gibson-Graham applauds this daring stunt!” (From the ‘Foreword’ by J.K. Gibson-Graham)

“This book brings together some of the most exciting social theorists writing, thinking and working today. It ventures beyond familiar accounts of contemporary challenges and opens up important new ways of framing future trajectories for change. It should be read far and wide.” (Professor Keri Facer, University of Bristol, AHRC Leadership Fellow for Connected Communities)

• Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom

  Ana Cecilia Dinerstein

Ana Cecilia Dinerstein is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Bath, UK. She is a critical sociologist and writes about radical subjectivity; labour, social, rural and indigenous movements; Argentine and Latin American politics, autonomy, Ernst Bloch, hope, and contemporary forms of utopia.

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