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FCG Internacional Thougth and Humanities 2008: ALAIN TOURAINE
“Due to his ability to combine rigorous social analysis and the defense of individual liberties from a decidedly democratic perspective. His research covers decisive aspects of contemporary culture, from the appearance of the post-industrial society to the turning-point of the transformation caused by modernity, as well as different social movements. The relevance of his analysis of the liberal model and its limitations are clear, far from offering only dogmatic or simplistic answers. Alain Touraine is therefore a key figure in contemporary thought who defends fundamental values in order to achieve social improvements and, above all, to strengthen the foundations of democracy.”
According the Jury for the FCG International Award for Thought and Humanities that met in Valladolid, Spain (July 4th, 2008), Chaired by: Mr. Demetrio Madrid López, First President of the Junta de Castilla y León [Regional Government of Castilla León], Councillor and President of the 2nd Session of the Consultative Council of Castilla León, and made up by the following members: Mr. José P. Castrillo Bernal, Director of Radio Valladolid and SER Castilla León; Mr. Fernando Castro Flórez, Aesthetics Professor at the Universidad Autónoma (Madrid); Mrs. Mar Cohnen Torres, Director of XL Semanal; Mr. Jesús Fonseca Escartín, Director of La Razón Newspaper in Castilla León; and Mr. Natalio Grueso Rodríguez, Director General of the Niemeyer Center.
ALAIN TOURAINE - Biography
Alain Touraine is a French sociologist who was born in Hermanville-sur-Mer (1925). He is renowned for coining the term «post-industrial society». His work is based on “action” sociology and he believes society shapes its own future through structural mechanisms and its social battles.
In 1950 he graduated from the "École Normale Superieure" in Paris. He undertook studies at the Universities of Columbia, Chicago and Harvard and was a researcher at the French National Research Council until 1958. In 1956 he set up the Center for Work Sociology at the University of Chile. In 1960 he became a senior researcher at the "École Pratique des Hautes Etudes" (nowadays the prestigious “School for the Advanced Study of the Social Sciences” in Paris), where he established the Center for the Analyses of Sociological Intervention (CADIS).
Touraine’s work can be classified into three stages:
The first, which centers on the study of work and the awareness of workers, is based on field studies undertaken in South America.
During the second stage he studied social movements, especially the “May ’68” French protests and coup d’états in South American states. During his stay in Poland, he observed the birth of the Solidarity Movement, after which he published “Solidarity. The Analysis of a Social Movement” (1983) and developed a research method called “Sociological Intervention”, described in “Voice and Observation” (La Voix et le Regard), 1981. The third stage, on which he is still working, involves the study of the role of the individual within social movements.
Touraine has fiercely opposed the neo-liberal policies which have been implemented since the decade of the 90s. In recent years, in his books “Critique of Modernity” (1994) and “What is Democracy?” (1994), the author has centered the debate on the question of the individual and democracy. He has also elaborated the idea of democracy as “not only a collection of institutional guarantees, a type of negative liberty. It is the battle between individuals, in their culture and in their freedom, against the dominating logic of systems…” Within this conception, it is important for the individual to maintain his memory and that rational thinking, personal liberty and cultural identity can be combined. In this way, democracy should try to be built-on by following two paths: On the one hand, spaces should be created for popular participation and, on the other hand, respect for individual differences and pluralism must be ensured.
Alain Touraine has published some 20 other books, as well as those works previously mentioned. Among the most important we can mention: “The Life and Death of Popular Chile”, “Dependent Societies”, “Social Actors and Political Systems in South America”, “The Evolution of Worker Labor in the Renault Factories” (1955), “The Sociology of Action” (1965), “An Introduction to Sociology” (1978), “The Return of the Actor” (1982) and “Today’s Social Movements: Actors and Analysts” (1990).
In 2004, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Valparaiso in Chile. In December 2006, he was also awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the National University of Colombia, at the close of the National Sociology Congress.
Demodernization: Touraine proposed the concept of “demodernization” in order to finally dominate the rationalist model of the Illustration. Touraine classifies “demodernization” as the disassociation of the two universes of rationality (production, techniques, markets) and of individual liberty (soul, culture, identity). The rationalization and individualization processes worked well together when they were articulated by the liberal State. Since the liberal State has been losing authority, the processes don’t work well in coordination. “Demodernization” can thus be defined as the disassociation of economy from cultures and as the degrading of both. Its two main aspects are “deinstitucionalization” and “desocialization”. Institutions, such as the family and the school, are losing their classical structure and norms and social values start disappearing.
Touraine prefers to speak of “demodernization”, instead of the “post-modern”.