Imaginary (sociology)
Encyclopedia
The imaginary, or social imaginary is the set of values, institutions, laws, and symbols common to a particular social group and the corresponding society.
'The social imaginary...[is] the creative and symbolic dimension of the social world, the dimension through which human beings create their ways of living together and their ways of representing their collective life'.
as one of the three intersecting orders that structure all human existence, the others being the symbolic
and the real
'. Lacan was responding to ' L'Imaginaire, which was the title of the "phenomenological psychology of the imagination" published by Sartre in 1940, where it refers to the image as a form of consciousness'. Lacan also drew on the way 'Melanie Klein
pushes back the limits within which we can see the subjective function of identification operate', in her work on phantasy - something extended by her followers to the analysis of how 'we are all prone to be drawn into social phantasy systems...the experience of being in a particular set of human collectivities'. 'While it is only in the early years of childhood that human beings live entirely in the Imaginary, it remains distinctly present throughout the life of the individual'.
The imaginary as a Lacanian term refers to an illusion and fascination with an image of the body as coherent unity, deriving from the dual relationship between the ego and the specular or mirror image. This illusion of coherence, control and totality is by no means unnecessary or inconsequential (as something that is illusory). 'The term "imaginary" is obviously cognate with "fictive" but in its Lacanian sense it is not simply synonymous with fictional or unreal; on the contrary, imaginary identifications can have very real effects'.
used the term in his book The Imaginary Institution of Society, maintaining that 'the imaginary of the society...creates for each historical period its singular way of living, seeing and making its own existence'. For Castoriadis, 'the central imaginary significations of a society...are the laces which tie a society together and the forms which define what, for a given society, is "real"'.
In similar fashion, Habermas
wrote of 'the massive background of an intersubjectively shared lifeworld...lifeworld contexts that provided the backing of a massive background consensus'.
expands on the concept of Western imaginaries in his book "Modern Social Imaginaries" (2004). He attempts to describe modernity and modern morality as a system of mutually beneficial spheres, in particular the public sphere of Habermas, market economy, and the self-government of citizens within a society.
While Taylor considers that '"social imaginary" usefully names a reciprocity of the individual and the community, as well as a reciprocity of understanding and behaving in the social world' applicable to all societies, he emphasizes above all 'the basic features of the modern social imaginary - virtuality, self-constitution, reflexivity...the social contract, market exchange, public opinion'.
Taylor has acknowledged the influence of Benedict Anderson
in his formulation of the concept of the social imaginary. Anderson treated the nation as 'an imagined political community...nation-ness, as well as nationalism, are cultural artifacts of a particular kind'.
Such work accepts that 'technological meaning is historically grounded and, as a result, becomes located within a larger social imaginary'.
status of the Imaginary. Some, such as Henry Corbin
, understand the imaginary to be quite real indeed, while others ascribe to it only a social or imagined reality.
John R. Searle considered the ontology of the social imaginary to be complex, but that in practice 'the complex structure of social reality is, so to speak, weightless and invisible. The child is brought up in a culture where he or she simply takes social reality for granted....The complex ontology seems simple'. He added the subtle distinction that social reality was observer-relative, and so would 'inherit that ontological subjectivity. But this ontological subjectivity does not prevent claims about observer-relative features from being epistemically objective'.
MIT Press, 2007 [2001].
Jasanoff, Sheila, and Sang-Hyun Kim. “Containing the Atom: Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Nuclear Power in the United States and South Korea.” Minerva 47, no. 2 (June 1, 2009): 119-146.
Marcus, G.E. Technoscientific Imaginaries. Late Editions Vol. 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. With contributions by Livia Polanyi, Michael M.J. Fischer, Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good, Paul Rabinow, Allucquere Rosanne Stone,Gary Lee Downey, Diana and Roger Hill, Hugh Gusterson, Kim Laughlin, Kathryn Milun, Sharon Traweek, Kathleen Stewart, Mario Biagioli, James Holston, Gudrun Klein, and Christopher Pound.
Vries, Imar de. Tantalisingly Close: An Archaeology of Communication Desires in Discourses of Mobile Wireless Media. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, forthcoming.
'The social imaginary...[is] the creative and symbolic dimension of the social world, the dimension through which human beings create their ways of living together and their ways of representing their collective life'.
Lacan
'The imaginary is presented by LacanJacques Lacan
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis and philosophy, and has been called "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud". Giving yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, Lacan influenced France's...
as one of the three intersecting orders that structure all human existence, the others being the symbolic
The Symbolic
The Symbolic is a part of the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan, part of his attempt 'to distinguish between those elementary registers whose grounding I later put forward in these terms: the symbolic, the imaginary, and the real - a distinction never previously made in psychoanalysis'.-The...
and the real
The Real
The Real refers to that which is authentic, the unchangeable truth in reference both to being/the Self and the external dimension of experience, also referred to as the infinite and absolute - as opposed to a reality based on sense perception and the material order.-In psychoanalysis:The Real is a...
'. Lacan was responding to ' L'Imaginaire, which was the title of the "phenomenological psychology of the imagination" published by Sartre in 1940, where it refers to the image as a form of consciousness'. Lacan also drew on the way 'Melanie Klein
Melanie Klein
Melanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
pushes back the limits within which we can see the subjective function of identification operate', in her work on phantasy - something extended by her followers to the analysis of how 'we are all prone to be drawn into social phantasy systems...the experience of being in a particular set of human collectivities'. 'While it is only in the early years of childhood that human beings live entirely in the Imaginary, it remains distinctly present throughout the life of the individual'.
The imaginary as a Lacanian term refers to an illusion and fascination with an image of the body as coherent unity, deriving from the dual relationship between the ego and the specular or mirror image. This illusion of coherence, control and totality is by no means unnecessary or inconsequential (as something that is illusory). 'The term "imaginary" is obviously cognate with "fictive" but in its Lacanian sense it is not simply synonymous with fictional or unreal; on the contrary, imaginary identifications can have very real effects'.
Castoriadis
In 1975, Cornelius CastoriadisCornelius Castoriadis
Cornelius Castoriadis was a Greek philosopher, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, author of The Imaginary Institution of Society, and co-founder of the Socialisme ou Barbarie group.-Early life in Athens:...
used the term in his book The Imaginary Institution of Society, maintaining that 'the imaginary of the society...creates for each historical period its singular way of living, seeing and making its own existence'. For Castoriadis, 'the central imaginary significations of a society...are the laces which tie a society together and the forms which define what, for a given society, is "real"'.
In similar fashion, Habermas
Habermas
People with the surname Habermas include:*German sociologist and philosopher, Jürgen Habermas*American philosophical theologian, Gary Habermas...
wrote of 'the massive background of an intersubjectively shared lifeworld...lifeworld contexts that provided the backing of a massive background consensus'.
Taylor
Canadian philosopher Charles TaylorCharles Taylor (philosopher)
Charles Margrave Taylor, is a Canadian philosopher from Montreal, Quebec best known for his contributions in political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, and in the history of philosophy. His contributions to these fields have earned him both the prestigious Kyoto Prize and the...
expands on the concept of Western imaginaries in his book "Modern Social Imaginaries" (2004). He attempts to describe modernity and modern morality as a system of mutually beneficial spheres, in particular the public sphere of Habermas, market economy, and the self-government of citizens within a society.
While Taylor considers that '"social imaginary" usefully names a reciprocity of the individual and the community, as well as a reciprocity of understanding and behaving in the social world' applicable to all societies, he emphasizes above all 'the basic features of the modern social imaginary - virtuality, self-constitution, reflexivity...the social contract, market exchange, public opinion'.
Taylor has acknowledged the influence of Benedict Anderson
Benedict Anderson
Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson is Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor Emeritus of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University, and is best known for his celebrated book Imagined Communities, first published in 1983...
in his formulation of the concept of the social imaginary. Anderson treated the nation as 'an imagined political community...nation-ness, as well as nationalism, are cultural artifacts of a particular kind'.
Technology
In 1995 "Technoscientific Imaginaries" was used as the title of a volume ethnographically exploring contemporary science and technology. A collection of encounters in the technosciences by a collective of anthropologists and others, edited by George Marcus, the goal was to find strategic sites of change in contemporary worlds that no longer fit traditional ideas and pedagogies and that are best explored through a collaborative effort between technoscientists and social scientists. While the Lacanian imaginary is only indirectly invoked, the interplay between emotion and reason, desire, the symbolic order, and the real are repeatedly probed. Crucial to the technical side of these imaginaries are the visual, statistical, and other representational modes of imaging that have both facilitated scientific developments and sometimes misdirected a sense of objectivity and certitude.Such work accepts that 'technological meaning is historically grounded and, as a result, becomes located within a larger social imaginary'.
Ontology
While not constituting an established reality, the social imaginary is nevertheless an institution inasmuch as it represents the system of meanings that govern a given social structure. These imaginaries are to be understood as historical constructs defined by the interactions of subjects in society. In that sense, the imaginary is not necessarily "real" as it is an imagined concept contingent on the imagination of a particular social subject. Nevertheless, there remains some debate among those who use the term (or its associated terms, such as imaginaire, as to the ontologicalOntology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
status of the Imaginary. Some, such as Henry Corbin
Henry Corbin
Henry Corbin was a philosopher, theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.Corbin was born in Paris in April 1903. As a boy he revealed the profound sensitivity to music so evident in his work...
, understand the imaginary to be quite real indeed, while others ascribe to it only a social or imagined reality.
John R. Searle considered the ontology of the social imaginary to be complex, but that in practice 'the complex structure of social reality is, so to speak, weightless and invisible. The child is brought up in a culture where he or she simply takes social reality for granted....The complex ontology seems simple'. He added the subtle distinction that social reality was observer-relative, and so would 'inherit that ontological subjectivity. But this ontological subjectivity does not prevent claims about observer-relative features from being epistemically objective'.
See also
Further Reading
Flichy, Patrice. The Internet Imaginaire. Translated by Liz Carey-Libbrecht. Cambridge, MA:MIT Press, 2007 [2001].
Jasanoff, Sheila, and Sang-Hyun Kim. “Containing the Atom: Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Nuclear Power in the United States and South Korea.” Minerva 47, no. 2 (June 1, 2009): 119-146.
Marcus, G.E. Technoscientific Imaginaries. Late Editions Vol. 2. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. With contributions by Livia Polanyi, Michael M.J. Fischer, Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good, Paul Rabinow, Allucquere Rosanne Stone,Gary Lee Downey, Diana and Roger Hill, Hugh Gusterson, Kim Laughlin, Kathryn Milun, Sharon Traweek, Kathleen Stewart, Mario Biagioli, James Holston, Gudrun Klein, and Christopher Pound.
Vries, Imar de. Tantalisingly Close: An Archaeology of Communication Desires in Discourses of Mobile Wireless Media. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, forthcoming.