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    Rights statement: The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Sociology, 54 (3), 2020 © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2020 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Sociology page: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/SOC on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/

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Critiquing - and rescuing - 'character'

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Critiquing - and rescuing - 'character'. / Sayer, Andrew.
In: Sociology, Vol. 54, No. 3, 01.06.2020, p. 460-481.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Sayer, A 2020, 'Critiquing - and rescuing - 'character'', Sociology, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 460-481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519892532

APA

Sayer, A. (2020). Critiquing - and rescuing - 'character'. Sociology, 54(3), 460-481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519892532

Vancouver

Sayer A. Critiquing - and rescuing - 'character'. Sociology. 2020 Jun 1;54(3):460-481. Epub 2020 Jan 6. doi: 10.1177/0038038519892532

Author

Sayer, Andrew. / Critiquing - and rescuing - 'character'. In: Sociology. 2020 ; Vol. 54, No. 3. pp. 460-481.

Bibtex

@article{8bef500482d84d1ab7799ad276c75c58,
title = "Critiquing - and rescuing - 'character'",
abstract = "The paper looks at how sociology might regard the concept of {\textquoteleft}character{\textquoteright}, both in terms of the way it is used in public discourse and in its own accounts of social life. In the former, the concept is likely to regarded with suspicion, especially where it is used to explain individuals{\textquoteright} life outcomes in a way that ignores social structures and depoliticizes inequalities. Such usages are to be found in political discourse on welfare and in the character education movement as a solution to problems of {\textquoteleft}social mobility{\textquoteright}. Yet if character refers to individuals{\textquoteright} settled dispositions to act in certain ways, then it has some affinities with the Bourdieusian concept of habitus. The paper argues both for developing the critique of ideological uses of the concept and for considering how it might be used in ways that do not misrepresent its explanatory and normative significance.",
keywords = "character, political discourse, character education, habitus, Virtue ethics, inequalities",
author = "Andrew Sayer",
note = "The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Sociology, 54 (3), 2020 {\textcopyright} SAGE Publications Ltd, 2020 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Sociology page: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/SOC on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/ ",
year = "2020",
month = jun,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1177/0038038519892532",
language = "English",
volume = "54",
pages = "460--481",
journal = "Sociology",
issn = "0038-0385",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Critiquing - and rescuing - 'character'

AU - Sayer, Andrew

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Sociology, 54 (3), 2020 © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2020 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the Sociology page: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/SOC on SAGE Journals Online: http://journals.sagepub.com/

PY - 2020/6/1

Y1 - 2020/6/1

N2 - The paper looks at how sociology might regard the concept of ‘character’, both in terms of the way it is used in public discourse and in its own accounts of social life. In the former, the concept is likely to regarded with suspicion, especially where it is used to explain individuals’ life outcomes in a way that ignores social structures and depoliticizes inequalities. Such usages are to be found in political discourse on welfare and in the character education movement as a solution to problems of ‘social mobility’. Yet if character refers to individuals’ settled dispositions to act in certain ways, then it has some affinities with the Bourdieusian concept of habitus. The paper argues both for developing the critique of ideological uses of the concept and for considering how it might be used in ways that do not misrepresent its explanatory and normative significance.

AB - The paper looks at how sociology might regard the concept of ‘character’, both in terms of the way it is used in public discourse and in its own accounts of social life. In the former, the concept is likely to regarded with suspicion, especially where it is used to explain individuals’ life outcomes in a way that ignores social structures and depoliticizes inequalities. Such usages are to be found in political discourse on welfare and in the character education movement as a solution to problems of ‘social mobility’. Yet if character refers to individuals’ settled dispositions to act in certain ways, then it has some affinities with the Bourdieusian concept of habitus. The paper argues both for developing the critique of ideological uses of the concept and for considering how it might be used in ways that do not misrepresent its explanatory and normative significance.

KW - character

KW - political discourse

KW - character education

KW - habitus

KW - Virtue ethics

KW - inequalities

U2 - 10.1177/0038038519892532

DO - 10.1177/0038038519892532

M3 - Journal article

VL - 54

SP - 460

EP - 481

JO - Sociology

JF - Sociology

SN - 0038-0385

IS - 3

ER -