Owen Abbott

Cardiff University, Cardiff School of Social Sciences, Post-Doc

University of Exeter, Sociology, Philosophy and Anthroplogy, Graduate Student

The University of Manchester, Sociology, Faculty Member

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I joined Cardiff University on a Leverhulme fellowship in January 2022, having previously been a lecturer at the University of York and the University of Manchester. Before that, I completed my PhD in Sociology at the University of Exeter in September 2017. My research predominantly focuses on the sociology of morality (with a particular emphasis on everyday practice), sociologies of the self, and relational sociology. Most recently, my research has culminated in the completion of a book entitled 'The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice', published in 2019. This book won the BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 2020 for best first and sole-authored book.

My current fellowship project investigated forgiveness in personal relationships.

My second book, Theorists of the Sociology of Morality, has recently been commissioned by Palgrave MacMillan. This book will provide a collection of critical essays on key social theorists whose work has informed sociological approaches to morality, with each essay setting out what the theorist’s contribution to sociological understandings of morality is, how they have been used in sociology and adjacent disciplines, and what the limitations of their arguments might be from the perspective of contemporary sociological understandings of morality.

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11 Papers

Talks by Owen Abbott

Interview with BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize winner Owen Abbott for his book The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice - audiofile in link

https://audiomack.com/song/british-sociological-association/interview-with-pam-prize-winner-owen-abbott, 2020

As winner of the BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize for the best first and sole authored book in so... more As winner of the BSA Philip Abrams Memorial Prize for the best first and sole authored book in sociology 2020, I was interviewed by Professor Stevi Jackson, who was one of the judges of the award, about my book The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice

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Books by Owen Abbott

The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice

Palgrave MacMillan , 2020

Providing a theory of moral practice for a contemporary sociological audience, Owen Abbott shows ... more Providing a theory of moral practice for a contemporary sociological audience, Owen Abbott shows that morality is a relational practice achieved by people in their everyday lives. He moves beyond old dualisms—society versus the individual, social structure versus agency, body versus mind—to offer a sociologically rigorous and coherent theory of the relational constitution of the self and moral practice, which is both shared and yet enacted from an individualized perspective. In so doing, The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice not only offers an urgently needed account of moral practice and its integral role in the emergence of the self, but also examines morality itself within and through social relations and practices. Abbott’s conclusions will be of interest to social scientists and philosophers of morality, those working with pragmatic and interactionist approaches, and those involved with relational sociology and social theory.

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Papers by Owen Abbott

The Temporal Uses of Moral Things: Manifesting, Anchoring and Conserving Caring Relations within the Sensorium

by Andrew Balmer, Robert Meckin, and Owen Abbott

Sociology, 2020

In this article we argue that menthol-containing products, like chewing gums, vapour rubs and mou... more In this article we argue that menthol-containing products, like chewing gums, vapour rubs and mouthwashes, are used as moral things within everyday practices. They take on moral functions because of how their material qualities contribute to sensory experiences. Specifically, we focus on scenarios in which menthol products become associated with the moral work of care and highlight the temporal dimension of what people do with moral things. We review the literature on morality as a practical, everyday accomplishment and stress the embodied nature of caring practices to outline how care is bound up with sensory experience. We draw on rich qualitative data generated through creative methods, including film, photography and sketching, as part of object-elicitation interviews, focus groups, home tours and ‘pop-up stalls’. We develop three concepts regarding the function of moral things: manifesting, anchoring and conserving moral relations to describe how time, morality and the sensory are entwined.

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The Self as the Locus of Morality: A Comparison between Charles Taylor and George Herbert Mead’s Theories of the Moral Constitution of the Self

Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 2020

This paper it provides a critical comparison of two leading exponents of the relationship between... more This paper it provides a critical comparison of two leading exponents of the relationship between morality and selfhood: Charles Taylor and George Herbert Mead. It seeks to provide an assessment of the contribution each approach is able to make to a social theory of morality that has the self at its heart. Calhoun (1991: 232-233) argues that ‘Charles Taylor is perhaps the best starting point for recovering a strong and crucial understanding of the self as moral subject’, and that his work is able to ‘offer extremely valuable guidelines and first steps to this potential sociological enterprise’. Contrary to this, I argue that while many of Taylor’s (1989) arguments clearly resonate with sociological approaches (such as his critique of proceduralism and the decontextualised moral subject, as well as his emphasis on cultural historicity and the intersubjective formation of moral selfhood), the way he hinges his argument on a ‘transcendental’ phenomenological account of identity (1989: 32), rather than an interactional social ontology, has problematic consequences for how Taylor understands the relationship between morality and selfhood. His attempts to use a phenomenological perspective to show how human selfhood and identity are inextricably connected with a basic moral ‘ontology of the human’ (Taylor, 1989: 5) produces a weak ontological argument, leads to an overly moralised and intellectualist conceptualisation of identity, and assumes individuated dialogic moral subjectivity to be ontologically basic, rather than developing through interaction. Indeed, his phenomenological account neglects the significance of interaction and social relations in his conceptualisation of the relationship between morality and self, which undermines the capacity of his framework to explain how moral understandings and dialogic moral subjectivity develop in a world of shared meaning. I then argue that Mead’s pragmatist interactionist approach overcomes many of the flaws in Taylor’s framework, and offers a grounded conceptualisation of the relationship between self and morality that is able to provide a basis for a properly social account of moral subjectivity.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Introduction: A Relational Sociology of Morality in Practice

The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice, 2020

In this introductory chapter, Abbott highlights the commonalities between the relational sociolog... more In this introductory chapter, Abbott highlights the commonalities between the relational sociology critiques of dualistic and static thinking in social theory on the one hand, and the recent philosophic critiques of the problematic reliance of Enlightenment moral thought on universalism, rationalism, and the disembedded subject on the other. This, Abbott argues, indicates the necessity of a relational sociology of morality. Specifically, the work of the likes of MacIntyre, Gilligan, and Dreyfus, along with a resurgent body of research conducted within the ‘new’ sociology of morality, point towards viewing morality in terms of practice, including everyday practice, and thus calls for a relational sociology of morality in practice.

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An Overview of Relational Sociology

The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice , 2020

In this chapter, Abbott provides an insightful and accessible overview of the major arguments of ... more In this chapter, Abbott provides an insightful and accessible overview of the major arguments of relational sociology, before relational approaches are drawn together with theories of practice to form a dynamic interactionist relational sociology, the virtues of which are expounded via a compelling critique of Bourdieu’s structural relationalism. It is argued further that the critiques delivered by relational sociology against holist/objectivist and subjectivist/methodologically individualistic conceptualisations of social life are not only resounding, but also provide an essential challenge to how morality has been conceptualised both within philosophy and sociology. These critiques will thus be detailed in via a relational view of practice and situated subjectivity, which, Abbott argues, offers a new path out of previous impasses in moral theorising.

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From Rationalism to Practices, Dispositions, and Situated Subjectivities: The View from Philosophy

The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice, 2020

In this chapter relational sociology critiques of methodological individualism and rational actio... more In this chapter relational sociology critiques of methodological individualism and rational action theories are applied specifically to a forceful critique of Enlightenment philosophy conceptualisations of the moral subject and moral action, which culminates in a decisive critical evaluation of Singer’s applied ethics. The sociological value of recent philosophic attempts to re-conceptualise morality in terms of practices (MacIntyre in After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. Duckworth, London, 1985), everyday embodied comportment (Dreyfus in Skillful Coping: Essays on the Phenomenology of Everyday Perception and Action. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014), and situated subjectivities (Gilligan in In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1982) are then assessed through a relational lens. This includes a much-needed sociological critique of MacIntyre’s virtue ethics perspective on moral practice, as well as critical appraisals of Dreyfus’s and Gilligan’s work in providing a basis for a relational sociology of morality in practice.

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From Holism and Individualism to a Relational Perspective on the Sociology of Morality

The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice, 2020

This chapter outlines the necessity of a sociological view of morality. However, it is then argue... more This chapter outlines the necessity of a sociological view of morality. However, it is then argued that the traditional dualistic tendencies towards holism and individualism, which have plagued social theory more generally, have often likewise played themselves out in sociological conceptualisations of morality. The problems of such dualistic approaches to morality are detailed via a critique of Durkheim’s holist approach and Zygmunt Bauman’s individualist conception of morality. Indeed, the critiques of moral theories of Durkheim and Bauman are among the most extensive and rigorous available in the contemporary literature. The chapter concludes that the capacity of relational sociology to undermine traditional dualistic distinctions allows it to guide sociological conceptions of morality in a way that avoid the pitfalls associated with either holist or individualist approaches.

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The New Sociology of Morality and Morality in Practice

The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice, 2020

Here, Abbott provides a thought-provoking sociology of everyday engagement with morality in pract... more Here, Abbott provides a thought-provoking sociology of everyday engagement with morality in practice. Drawing upon sociological research into the maintenance of tact and secrecy in interactional practice (Goffman), the facing of complex moral decisions within the family, and ethical consumption and the presentation of self-identity, the chapter argues firstly that people do ordinarily engage with morality in routine practice, and secondly that people engage with everyday moral practice at varying levels of embodied responsiveness, mundane reflexive awareness, and more concerted dialogic rumination. This then feeds into the argument that it is in everyday practice that morality and moral phenomena as we know them are enacted, sustained, and transformed.

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The Self and a Relational Explanation of Morality in Practice

The Self and a Relational Explanation of Morality in Practice, 2020

Abbott compellingly argues for using George Herbert Mead’s work as a basis for a relational socio... more Abbott compellingly argues for using George Herbert Mead’s work as a basis for a relational sociology of morality. The chapter outlines why Bourdieu’s theory of habitus struggles to provide a basis for a sociology of moral practice. This is argued on the grounds that Mead’s theory of the self is firstly better equipped to explain moral habituation, which Bourdieu neglects. Secondly, because Mead emphasised the role of reflexivity in interaction, his work is able to account for the role of ‘mundane reflexivity’ in interactionally situated moral conduct. Finally, Mead’s theory of reflexive individuation is able to provide a relational account of the dialogic capacities of the individual to engage with their own moral articulations in relation to the perspectives of others.

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Conclusion: A Relational View of Moral Phenomena

The Self, Relational Sociology, and Morality in Practice, 2020

This chapter concludes the argument that a relational sociology of morality is able to provide a ... more This chapter concludes the argument that a relational sociology of morality is able to provide a coherent and dynamic picture of how moral phenomena are sustained, transmitted, and transformed in interactional practice. The arguments for a Meadian-based interactional relationalism are reaffirmed, as are the arguments for viewing morality predominantly in terms of everyday practice.

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Posthumanist Perspectives and the Chernobyl Disaster: Dances of Agency, and Temporal Emergence

Posthumanist Perspectives and the Chernobyl Disaster: Dances of Agency, Temporal Emergence, and Disaster Risk Management, Aug 2016

This article applies the philosophical perspective of posthumanism to the Chernobyl nuclear disas... more This article applies the philosophical perspective of posthumanism to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. A posthumanist perspective attempts to break with the notion of human exceptionalism by recognising the performative agency of the non-human. It is maintained that such an approach is necessary to understanding how the disaster occurred in the first place, the calamitous initial responses the disaster, and its long-term consequence – including the environmental restoration that has occurred in the exclusion zone. Indeed, it is argued that much of the previous literature on the disaster takes the perspective of human exceptionalism, which has led to a failure to accurately interpret how the disaster unfolded and how it continues to emerge.

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The Self and Morality in Mead: The Problems with the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’

Journal for Philosophy and its Cultural Context (No.2), Mar 31, 2015

This article aims to interrogate George Herbert Mead’s account of the Self. While recognising tha... more This article aims to interrogate George Herbert Mead’s account of the Self. While recognising that Mead’s work provides an invaluable contribution to theories of the self, it is argued here that a number of the theoretical underpinnings employed by Mead hold back his theories. It is maintained that this restricts Mead’s conceptualisation of the “I” and the “me”. Furthermore, his theoretical basis led to a number of shortcomings in his attempts to unify his theories of the self with his theories of ethics.

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