Quo Vadis, Sociology? On Using Metaphors in Sociological-Intellectual Practice
Quo Vadis, Sociology? On Using Metaphors in Sociological-Intellectual Practice

Summary/Abstract: Sociology is always at least two things at once. It is both an idealistic exercise and a realpolitik enterprise, involving both high-minded aspirations and down-and-dirty game-playing. Sociology is constantly caught between its intellectual aspirations, which often have liberatory intents to demonstrate how the world works and to speak truth to the powerful who generally do not want to hear uncomfortable truths, and its academic actualities, of careers, funding regimes, and governmental interference. It also routinely engages in massive and ceaseless self-criticism, and it regularly crucifies certain personages of the past of the discipline, while also resurrecting others. Above all, sociology is a metaphorical science. It needs metaphors to be able to name things that can then be studied, and the chosen metaphors will in turn influence how those things are to be inquired into. The problem is that once fresh metaphors can harden into clichés, standardised thinking is encouraged, and vital aspects of experience are lost to view. This paper considers these dangers and what to do about them.

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