07. Social freedom in contemporary capitalism: A reconstruction of Axel Honneth’s normative approach to the economy

Abstract

This paper discusses two related issues, namely how to adequately describe the economy within the framework of a critical social theory, and how to understand the interrelation between the socio-economic and political dimensions of democracy. Concerning the first issue Honneth stresses the moral quality of social integration, and concerning the second issue he develops a conception of ‘democratic Sittlichkeit.’ In reconstructing these issues, both the promises and problems of Honneth’s work for analyzing and criticizing contemporary developments in the economy are explored. The paper concludes that the unresolved challenge for Honneth is not to succumb to a nostalgic return to 19th century solutions – a nostalgia that can also be found in the recent article where Honneth (2014b) argues for a return to an organic conception of society – but to combine the insights of Hegel and Durkheim concerning our fundamental interdependence with insights concerning the new emancipatory aspects of contemporary forms of individualism.