Kristina Vlasova

England – Oxford University; Paris – EHESS

Research area: Modernism, Critical Theory and Sociology, Aesthetics, German Philosophy

‘For me, Max Weber represents a pivotal figure in social and historical sciences. His intellectual sobriety and breadth of analysis influenced critical theorists across geographies and generations. A staunch defender of the dignity of human action, Weber developed a particular ethic of social sciences. He disavowed any approaches to studying history and culture as manifestations of objective tendencies imbued with a sense of inevitability, inner coherence, or temporal continuity. The value of recognizing historical contingency, for which Weber advocated, consists, above all, in opening up a possibility to imagine the social differently, thereby sociology becomes not only a science of society but also a theory of the possible. Disrupting our perspective on socio-political events, it strikes us with a challenge to surmount the fallacy of human irresponsibility as it pertains to historical development so that we can think imaginatively about social injustice and the possible changes we can make to live in a more just, free world.’