The Social Conditions of Freedom in Contemporary Modernity (completed)

The goal of this project is to study the social conditions of freedom in contemporary modern societies. How do the social structures in the kind of society we live in today enable and constrain the freedom of individuals?  

To answer this question, the project will first construct a multidimensional empirical concept of freedom consisting of six subcategories of free action. Using this as a point of departure, the project will proceed to develop a sociological diagnosis of the present based on what I will argue are the five most important structural principles of contemporary modern societies. By invoking the social mechanisms that depict how these structural principles influence individual actions, the project will then be able to study the most important ways in which today's society both enable and constrain the free action of individuals. Northwestern Europe will be the empirical case, and the project's research method is empirical reconstruction with theoretical intent, which consists of analyzing in tandem conceptual and empirical questions while drawing on a theoretically sampled corpus of existing empirical studies.

Objectives

The primary objective of this project is to produce a better understanding of the social conditions of freedom in contemporary modern societies, and, by doing this, to contribute to developing further the sociology of freedom as a sub-discipline.

To achieve this goal, there are several secondary objectives:

1. To develop a multidimensional empirical concept of freedom.
2. To produce a comprehensive diagnosis of the present that captures the most important structural characteristics of contemporary modern societies.
3. To supplement the "grand" diagnosis with the most frequent social mechanisms that mediate between structural macro-characteristics and individual action at the micro-level.
4. To test and ground my diagnosis empirically by taking Northwestern Europe as my case.
5. And finally, through 1-4, to achieve a better understanding of the social infrastructure through which contemporary Northwestern European societies both enable and constrain the freedom of its individuals.

The project is financed by the Norwegian Research council's program for Independent projects (FRIPRO) 

The project duration will be from January 1. 2011 to September 30. 2015

Published Feb. 29, 2012 10:19 AM - Last modified May 2, 2019 4:33 PM

Participants

  • Gunnar Colbjørnsen Aakvaag Universitetet i Oslo
Detailed list of participants