ABSTRACT
Interest in continuity Previous sections show how economics emphasises an essential human interest in a continuity and expansion of free market exchange. How about social science? As discussed in the book part on universal and culturally specific interests, social science does not conceive of free and expanding market exchange of independent individuals as a universal, genetically hardwired, interest. From a mainstream social science perspective, market liberalism – frequently used as synonymous with capitalism – is a cultural specificity, albeit an extremely widely spread one. Some social scientists are in favour of it, whereas others – most notably Marxists and neo-Marxists – problematise it. To be sure, it would be difficult for orthodox Marxists to be against capitalism, since Marxism conceives of capitalism as a necessary step towards their envisioned, classless society. Still, we can roughly summarise that mainstream social science (consisting of non-Marxists and Marxists) sees it either as a culturally specific phenomenon or as a specific, transitory stage of societal development. This discipline instead stresses the human interest in a continuity of other Apollonian interests, as well as Dionysian ones, such as in relative welfare, along with social bonds, traditions rituals, community interaction, and so forth. As several classical sociologists have shown, for instance Durkheim and Tonnies, social bonding is not easily created. Nor is it easily fixed once it has been disturbed. Society is founded on traditions, rituals, habits, institutions, and other social phenomena that are often taken far too lightly by some economists, social scientists maintain. These social phenomena take time to establish and take hard work to maintain and strengthen, especially in liberal democratic societies with the strong pressures from the constantly swirling capitalism. This view represents a conservative, highly Dionysian trait of social science. It is concerned with what is lost in an ever-changing society, particularly when capitalism exerts pressure on people, groups, and their institutions. A concern for the moral foundations of sanctity, loyalty, and even authority can easily be traced in social scientific analyses of the risks and downsides of capitalist society. Similar to conservative political parties, parts of social science evaluate society with a voice of guardians of a civilisation that is endangered. Among
social scientists, this is regularly extended to a concern for conserving and protecting the natural, physical environment. The apparent inconsistency among many political conservatives – of wanting to conserve traditional values while making far fewer efforts conserving or preserving the natural, physical environment – is one which environmental sociologists often point out as severely problematic (McCright, Xiao, & Dunlap, 2014). In societies where the satisfaction of human interests is threatened, as to the continuity and strengthening of group bonds, shared culture, traditions, and institutions, social scientists highlight what they see as the importance of these human interests in continuity. The vast majority of social scientists hold this concern for social bonds in a manner that also embraces cultural pluralism. Their ideal is usually to help preserve and develop the bonds and traditions within a society, without compromising the mutual respect and integration between cultures. However, this pluralist view of human interest has not always been the prevailing one among all parts of social science. The political philosopher Schmitt, for example, moves his conservative, Dionysian perspective to the extreme political right. His critique of the changes brought about by capitalism is most relevant to our discussion here. Capitalism may, just as economists maintain, give people many choices. However, capitalism is amoral as to what choices people favour, and as to what manifest interests people choose. According to Schmitt, capitalism is a cold, dispassionate, and arbitrary system that exaggerates the degree and width in which humans hold an interest in change. Capitalism goes against what Schmitt conceives as human interests in continuity, of sharing a collective sense of purpose and meaning. What Schmitt fears the most is a world becoming increasingly like a global trading company, with no local roots, no continuity, no deeper social and cultural bonds (Schmitt, 1932/2007). This is a world adopting a disproportionately Apollonian mindset, without recognising people’s Dionysian interests in continuity and social bonding. Schmitt’s conservative and communitarian arguments draw to the far right, towards nationalism, even ethnic nationalism, by favouring ethnicity as the basis for a nation to become or stay united.
