비판사회학의 재구성 - ‘크리티시즘(criticism)’에서 ‘크리틱(critique)’으로

초록

This study examines the crisis faced by critical sociology in contemporary South Korea and explores possibilities for its reconstruction. By applying a modified version of Michael Burawoy’s typology of sociology, it views the core of critical sociology as the production of reflexive knowledge and historically examines Korean critical sociology with a focus on criticality and publicness. Since the late 1990s, amid sweeping changes both within and outside the academic field, critical sociology has gradually lost its criticality and publicness, becoming indistinguishable from professional or policy sociology. Based on this problematization, this research proposes the reconstitution of critical sociology as follows. First, the critique performed by critical sociology should be reestablished as an explanatory project that clarifies the mechanisms behind social phenomena. In particular, it is necessary to build a collective research program that analyzes capitalism as a structure of structures and tracks its historical changes. Second, critical sociology should revitalize its publicness by actively seeking engagement not only within the academic field but also with audiences outside it. Third, while embracing insights from emerging postcritique discussions, critical sociology should guard against limitations that may evade explanatory responsibility or lead to depoliticization, and instead draw on these insights as resources for creatively renewing critique.

키워드