The tasks of emancipatory social sciences:
1. Diagnosis and critique of existing social structures and institutions
-social justice
-political justice
2. Viable alternatives
-desirability
-viability
-achievability
The 3rd task of emancipatory social science is transformation.
The diagnosis and critique of society tells us why we want to leave the world in which we live.
The theory of alternatives tells us where we want to go and the theory of transformation tells us how we are going to get there.
This theory involves four central components:
1. A theory of social reproduction.
2. A theory of the gaps and contradictions within the process of reproduction.
3. A theory of the underlying dynamics and trajectory of unintended social change.
4. A theory of collective actors, strategies and struggles.
Lets break it down:
A Theory of Social Reproduction
Social reproduction implies that the structures and social harms identified in the diagnosis and critique of society do not exist simply through some law of inertia but in fact have a mechanism which ensures their continuity.
Since these institutions and structures cause harm to people they must have some mechanism which ensures their survival otherwise the oppressed would resist and create change to ensure a more egalitarian civilization. The relative stability of oppressive systems depends upon the existence of a variety of interconnected defense mechanisms which block or contain such a challenge. In order to transform these systems we must understand how these mechanisms work. That is we must understand the nature of the systems defense.
A Theory of the gaps and contradictions within the process of reproduction
If it were the case that the process of social reproduction was a complete coherent, pervasively integrated system then there would be little hope of deliberate transformation. Though some theories do come close to this totalizing view of social reproduction
i.e. domination is so pervasive and coherent that all acts of apparent resistance merely serve to further stabilize the system of domination itself.
These theories may still embody a diagnosis and critique of society but they fail to provide grounds for believing that transformation is possible thus scientific knowledge cannot contribute to challenging forms of oppression.
An emancipatory theory of must social transformation must examine the crack, the contradictions and the gaps in the social reproduction. In short the various ways in which the process of social reproduction opens up spaces in which collective struggles for new possibilities are available.
If we take emancipatory social science as a form of science and not just a philosophical critique then we cannot assume a priori that such openings exist so we must continue to search for contradictory processes that allow openings for transformation.
A theory of the underlying dynamics and trajectory of unintended social change
In order to formulate compelling long-term projects of social transformation, it is obviously desirable to understand, not simply the obstacles and openings for strategies in the present, but also how those obstacles and opportunities are likely to develop over time.
This is the central thrust of Marx’s historical materialism which proposed a systematic, coherent account of the dynamic tendencies internal to capitalism which in theory would lead to unintended social change and the demise of our current system.
Though we may have a good understanding of the mechanisms of social reproduction and their contradictions we do not have a good understanding of the interplay of reproduction, contradictions and social actions.
A compelling theory regarding the dynamic trajectory of social change is still forthcoming.
We do not believe that the fundamental structural and institutional changes needed for creating a democratic egalitarian society can be achieved in the immediate future yet our ability to generate credible knowledge of social conditions beyond the near future is very limited.
There is thus a gap between the time horizons of scientific theory (short term) and the time-horizon of transformative struggle (long term).
A theory of collective actors, strategies, and struggles
We believe that if viable alternatives are to be realized, this will be the result of conscious strategies, by people committed to democratic egalitarian principles.
Therefore we need a theory of strategies dealing with collective action and transformative struggle.
Again:
The theory of social reproduction maps out the obstacles we face (the systems strengths).
The theory of contradiction maps out the opportunities that exist (the systems weaknesses).
The theory of dynamic trajectory-if we had such a theory- would tell us how these obstacles and opportunities are likely to evolve over time.
The theory of transformative strategy tells us how we can contend with the obstacles and take advantage of the opportunities and move us in the direction of social emancipation.
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