Reformism and Melancholia: Economic Crisis and the Limits of Sociology

Abstract

This article addresses the persistence of reformism in sociological responses to the crisis. It begins by considering the temporal meaning of crisis and connects it to an appraisal of the extent to which the alternative ‘reformism or revolution’ still conditions our thinking. The article goes on to consider radical arguments for the obsolescence of reform. It suggests that a focus on the sociology of knowledge has impaired the discipline’s capacity to engage critically with the reformist imaginaries that circumscribe policy debate and public commentary.