Marcus Morgan
Biographic Data
| ID | 3590982 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marcus Morgan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marcus |
| FAMILY NAME | Morgan |
| SIGNATURE | MORGAN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5378-9293 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 86 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Mobilizing Power Through Social Performance: Zones, Digital Mediation, and Concealed Performances
Why the study of political contention needs Durkheim: The case of Charles Tilly's 'contentious repertoires
This paper argues that the sociological study of political contention would be strengthened by adopting insights from the late work of Émile Durkheim. It does so by evaluating Charles Tilly's account of social performance as a means of conducting politics, focussing on his concept of 'contentious repertoires'. It finds merit in Tilly's meticulous historical reconstruction of the contextually limited repertoire of political performance, in his ide…
Hidden Transcripts of the Powerful: Researching the Arts of Domination
This article develops a submerged aspect of James C Scott's work on 'hidden transcripts'. Whereas Scott focused predominantly on the hidden transcripts of the powerless, here we propose a research agenda based upon studying hidden transcripts of the powerful. First, we define our terms. Second, we map existing literature, observing that although plenty of research exists into the public transcripts of dominant and subordinate groups, and that Sco…
Durkheim and the Durkheimians: Mapping an intellectual tradition
Power, Culture, and Materiality in Modernity
Existence theory: Outline for a theory of social behaviour
This article introduces 'existence theory' as a new approach to sociological theory and research. Existence theory starts from the assumption that people organise their lives around a limited set of existential milestones. Cultural expectations are such that without the accomplishment of those milestones, individuals may experience their lives as incomplete. Examples of milestones can include the attainment of formal education, a lasting partners…
Introduction to the special issue on existence theory
After exploring the main tenets of existence theory and the affinities between this theory and other philosophical traditions, this introduction lists the central points of each contribution to this special issue. In what follows, we provide a brief synopsis of the critical commentaries by David Inglis, Simon Susen, Robin Wagner-Pacifici, Bryan S. Turner, William Outhwaite, and Thomas Kemple
Symbolic action and constraint: The cultural logic of the 2017 UK General Election
Existence theory revisited: A reply to our critics
In this essay, we provide a comprehensive reply to the critical commentaries by David Inglis, Thomas Kemple, William Outhwaite, Simon Susen, Bryan S. Turner, and Robin Wagner-Pacifici. Our reply is structured along three main pillars. Firstly, we clarify what we aim to achieve with existence theory. Drawing on neo-pragmatist philosophy, our aim is to present a new and useful perspective on a wide range of social phenomena; we do not attempt to ta…
Why meaning-making matters: The case of the UK Government’s Covid-19 response
A Cultural Sociology of Populism
This article interrogates dominant definitions of “populism” found in the social sciences, focusing on the term’s conceptual utility in understanding recent changes in Western polities. Though populism is typically treated as a deviant form of politics, this article finds that it in fact holds remarkable continuities with conventional politics, and indeed culture more generally. It argues that these more general cultural processes can be illumina…
Strategies of public intellectual engagement
This introduction to the Special Section on public intellectual engagement has three objectives. First, to explore the different meanings that the polysemic term 'strategy' can hold in relation to intellectuals. In the process, we showcase both this concept's potential theoretical yield and its capacity to bridge the 'performative' and event-oriented study of intellectuals more common in English-speaking sociology with longue durée career-oriente…
Movement intellectuals engaging the grassroots: A strategy perspective on the Black Consciousness Movement
Drawing upon activist interviews and framing theory this article proposes that the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) is better understood not by focusing on the objective status of its leadership as middle-class intellectuals, but by instead looking at what these 'movement intellectuals' subjectively did to link their philosophy of liberation to the lifeworlds of those they sought to engage. It argues that this shift reveals three important feat…
Performance and Power in Social Movements: Biko's Role as a Witness in the Saso/BPC Trial
This article provides a case study of the relationship between performance and power in social movements. It reveals how movements are able to reiterate established cultures of resistance across time and space through performative means. It also shows how - given requisite stage settings and skilful actors - methods of performance allow movements to subvert established structures of domination to their political advantage. It does this through fo…
A performative framework for the study of intellectuals
This article introduces a new, performative framework for analysing intellectuals and intellectual interventions. It elaborates on the strengths of this theoretical perspective vis-à-vis rival approaches and develops this frame of reference by exploring key constituent concepts, including positioning, script and staging. The article then exemplifies the framework and demonstrates its applicability by exploring a public intellectual performance by…
Acting out ideas: Performative citizenship in the Black Consciousness Movement
Pragmatic Humanism: On the nature and value of sociological knowledge
Is sociology best understood as simply chipping away at our ignorance about society, or does it have broader roles and responsibilities? If so, to what-or perhaps to whom-are these responsibilities? Installing humanity as its epistemological and normative start and endpoint, this book shows how humanism recasts sociology as an activity that does not merely do things, or effect things, but is also self-consciously for something. Rather than resurr…
The responsibility for social hope
Since representations of social life are rarely separate in their effects from the worlds they aspire to depict, this article argues that as producers of such representations, sociologists are automatically responsible for considering the performative consequences of their work. In particular, it suggests that sociologists have an ongoing normative responsibility to draw out emergent strands of social hope from their empirical analyses. Through a…
Revisiting truth and freedom in Orwell and Rorty
This article uses differing interpretations of a thread of narrative taken from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four as a springboard to exploring the connection between philosophical truth and political liberalism. It argues that while no positive connection exists between realist truth and political liberalism, minimal negative connections do exist between Rorty’s humanistic account of truth and a basic commitment to democratic and liberal frameworks.…
The poverty of (moral) philosophy: Towards an empirical and pragmatic ethics
This article makes both a more general and a more specific argument, and while the latter relies upon the former, the inverse does not apply. The more general argument proposes that empirical disciplines such as sociology are better suited to the production of ethical knowledge than more characteristically abstract and legalistic disciplines such as philosophy and theology. The more specific argument, which is made through a critique of Bauman's …
Existence theory: Outline for a theory of social behaviour
This article introduces 'existence theory' as a new approach to sociological theory and research. Existence theory starts from the assumption that people organise their lives around a limited set of existential milestones. Cultural expectations are such that without the accomplishment of those milestones, individuals may experience their lives as incomplete. Examples of milestones can include the attainment of formal education, a lasting partners…
A performative framework for the study of intellectuals
This article introduces a new, performative framework for analysing intellectuals and intellectual interventions. It elaborates on the strengths of this theoretical perspective vis-à-vis rival approaches and develops this frame of reference by exploring key constituent concepts, including positioning, script and staging. The article then exemplifies the framework and demonstrates its applicability by exploring a public intellectual performance by…
Why meaning-making matters: The case of the UK Government’s Covid-19 response
Acting out ideas: Performative citizenship in the Black Consciousness Movement
A Cultural Sociology of Populism
This article interrogates dominant definitions of “populism” found in the social sciences, focusing on the term’s conceptual utility in understanding recent changes in Western polities. Though populism is typically treated as a deviant form of politics, this article finds that it in fact holds remarkable continuities with conventional politics, and indeed culture more generally. It argues that these more general cultural processes can be illumina…
Performance and Power in Social Movements: Biko's Role as a Witness in the Saso/BPC Trial
This article provides a case study of the relationship between performance and power in social movements. It reveals how movements are able to reiterate established cultures of resistance across time and space through performative means. It also shows how - given requisite stage settings and skilful actors - methods of performance allow movements to subvert established structures of domination to their political advantage. It does this through fo…
Strategies of public intellectual engagement
This introduction to the Special Section on public intellectual engagement has three objectives. First, to explore the different meanings that the polysemic term 'strategy' can hold in relation to intellectuals. In the process, we showcase both this concept's potential theoretical yield and its capacity to bridge the 'performative' and event-oriented study of intellectuals more common in English-speaking sociology with longue durée career-oriente…
Movement intellectuals engaging the grassroots: A strategy perspective on the Black Consciousness Movement
Drawing upon activist interviews and framing theory this article proposes that the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) is better understood not by focusing on the objective status of its leadership as middle-class intellectuals, but by instead looking at what these 'movement intellectuals' subjectively did to link their philosophy of liberation to the lifeworlds of those they sought to engage. It argues that this shift reveals three important feat…
The responsibility for social hope
Since representations of social life are rarely separate in their effects from the worlds they aspire to depict, this article argues that as producers of such representations, sociologists are automatically responsible for considering the performative consequences of their work. In particular, it suggests that sociologists have an ongoing normative responsibility to draw out emergent strands of social hope from their empirical analyses. Through a…
Hidden Transcripts of the Powerful: Researching the Arts of Domination
This article develops a submerged aspect of James C Scott's work on 'hidden transcripts'. Whereas Scott focused predominantly on the hidden transcripts of the powerless, here we propose a research agenda based upon studying hidden transcripts of the powerful. First, we define our terms. Second, we map existing literature, observing that although plenty of research exists into the public transcripts of dominant and subordinate groups, and that Sco…
Power, Culture, and Materiality in Modernity
Symbolic action and constraint: The cultural logic of the 2017 UK General Election
Revisiting truth and freedom in Orwell and Rorty
This article uses differing interpretations of a thread of narrative taken from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four as a springboard to exploring the connection between philosophical truth and political liberalism. It argues that while no positive connection exists between realist truth and political liberalism, minimal negative connections do exist between Rorty’s humanistic account of truth and a basic commitment to democratic and liberal frameworks.…
The poverty of (moral) philosophy: Towards an empirical and pragmatic ethics
This article makes both a more general and a more specific argument, and while the latter relies upon the former, the inverse does not apply. The more general argument proposes that empirical disciplines such as sociology are better suited to the production of ethical knowledge than more characteristically abstract and legalistic disciplines such as philosophy and theology. The more specific argument, which is made through a critique of Bauman's …
The poverty of (moral) philosophy: Towards an empirical and pragmatic ethics
This article makes both a more general and a more specific argument, and while the latter relies upon the former, the inverse does not apply. The more general argument proposes that empirical disciplines such as sociology are better suited to the production of ethical knowledge than more characteristically abstract and legalistic disciplines such as philosophy and theology. The more specific argument, which is made through a critique of Bauman's …
Revisiting truth and freedom in Orwell and Rorty
This article uses differing interpretations of a thread of narrative taken from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four as a springboard to exploring the connection between philosophical truth and political liberalism. It argues that while no positive connection exists between realist truth and political liberalism, minimal negative connections do exist between Rorty’s humanistic account of truth and a basic commitment to democratic and liberal frameworks.…
Pragmatic Humanism: On the nature and value of sociological knowledge
Is sociology best understood as simply chipping away at our ignorance about society, or does it have broader roles and responsibilities? If so, to what-or perhaps to whom-are these responsibilities? Installing humanity as its epistemological and normative start and endpoint, this book shows how humanism recasts sociology as an activity that does not merely do things, or effect things, but is also self-consciously for something. Rather than resurr…
The responsibility for social hope
Since representations of social life are rarely separate in their effects from the worlds they aspire to depict, this article argues that as producers of such representations, sociologists are automatically responsible for considering the performative consequences of their work. In particular, it suggests that sociologists have an ongoing normative responsibility to draw out emergent strands of social hope from their empirical analyses. Through a…
Acting out ideas: Performative citizenship in the Black Consciousness Movement
Performance and Power in Social Movements: Biko's Role as a Witness in the Saso/BPC Trial
This article provides a case study of the relationship between performance and power in social movements. It reveals how movements are able to reiterate established cultures of resistance across time and space through performative means. It also shows how - given requisite stage settings and skilful actors - methods of performance allow movements to subvert established structures of domination to their political advantage. It does this through fo…
A performative framework for the study of intellectuals
This article introduces a new, performative framework for analysing intellectuals and intellectual interventions. It elaborates on the strengths of this theoretical perspective vis-à-vis rival approaches and develops this frame of reference by exploring key constituent concepts, including positioning, script and staging. The article then exemplifies the framework and demonstrates its applicability by exploring a public intellectual performance by…
Why meaning-making matters: The case of the UK Government’s Covid-19 response
A Cultural Sociology of Populism
This article interrogates dominant definitions of “populism” found in the social sciences, focusing on the term’s conceptual utility in understanding recent changes in Western polities. Though populism is typically treated as a deviant form of politics, this article finds that it in fact holds remarkable continuities with conventional politics, and indeed culture more generally. It argues that these more general cultural processes can be illumina…
Strategies of public intellectual engagement
This introduction to the Special Section on public intellectual engagement has three objectives. First, to explore the different meanings that the polysemic term 'strategy' can hold in relation to intellectuals. In the process, we showcase both this concept's potential theoretical yield and its capacity to bridge the 'performative' and event-oriented study of intellectuals more common in English-speaking sociology with longue durée career-oriente…
Movement intellectuals engaging the grassroots: A strategy perspective on the Black Consciousness Movement
Drawing upon activist interviews and framing theory this article proposes that the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) is better understood not by focusing on the objective status of its leadership as middle-class intellectuals, but by instead looking at what these 'movement intellectuals' subjectively did to link their philosophy of liberation to the lifeworlds of those they sought to engage. It argues that this shift reveals three important feat…
Symbolic action and constraint: The cultural logic of the 2017 UK General Election
Existence theory revisited: A reply to our critics
In this essay, we provide a comprehensive reply to the critical commentaries by David Inglis, Thomas Kemple, William Outhwaite, Simon Susen, Bryan S. Turner, and Robin Wagner-Pacifici. Our reply is structured along three main pillars. Firstly, we clarify what we aim to achieve with existence theory. Drawing on neo-pragmatist philosophy, our aim is to present a new and useful perspective on a wide range of social phenomena; we do not attempt to ta…
Durkheim and the Durkheimians: Mapping an intellectual tradition
Power, Culture, and Materiality in Modernity
Existence theory: Outline for a theory of social behaviour
This article introduces 'existence theory' as a new approach to sociological theory and research. Existence theory starts from the assumption that people organise their lives around a limited set of existential milestones. Cultural expectations are such that without the accomplishment of those milestones, individuals may experience their lives as incomplete. Examples of milestones can include the attainment of formal education, a lasting partners…
Introduction to the special issue on existence theory
After exploring the main tenets of existence theory and the affinities between this theory and other philosophical traditions, this introduction lists the central points of each contribution to this special issue. In what follows, we provide a brief synopsis of the critical commentaries by David Inglis, Simon Susen, Robin Wagner-Pacifici, Bryan S. Turner, William Outhwaite, and Thomas Kemple
Hidden Transcripts of the Powerful: Researching the Arts of Domination
This article develops a submerged aspect of James C Scott's work on 'hidden transcripts'. Whereas Scott focused predominantly on the hidden transcripts of the powerless, here we propose a research agenda based upon studying hidden transcripts of the powerful. First, we define our terms. Second, we map existing literature, observing that although plenty of research exists into the public transcripts of dominant and subordinate groups, and that Sco…
Why the study of political contention needs Durkheim: The case of Charles Tilly's 'contentious repertoires
This paper argues that the sociological study of political contention would be strengthened by adopting insights from the late work of Émile Durkheim. It does so by evaluating Charles Tilly's account of social performance as a means of conducting politics, focussing on his concept of 'contentious repertoires'. It finds merit in Tilly's meticulous historical reconstruction of the contextually limited repertoire of political performance, in his ide…
Mobilizing Power Through Social Performance: Zones, Digital Mediation, and Concealed Performances
Sociology (17 works) · Epistemology (15 works) · Social and Cultural Dynamics (12 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Law (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Social science (7 works) · Aesthetics (6 works) · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice (6 works)