On ‘Outsourcing’ the political in political science

Through a critical analysis of some of the most popular theoretical approaches in mainstream political studies, the paper draws attention to the dichotomist interpretations of the political made by political scientists in the context of social movements, either celebrating their ‘truly’ political and radical nature, or deeming them conformist and post-political. It suggests that both discourses, but especially the insistent discourse of de-politicisation by political scientists must be viewed critically as it contributes to what might be called as ‘outsourcing’ the political merely to social movements while reserving themselves the possibility of remaining politically non-engaged. In encouraging discussion on engaged scholarship in political science, the paper proposes that instead of expecting others to ‘reoccupy’ the political, political scientists should politicise themselves – and do so in a close relationship with social movements through the practices of unlearning privileges and solidarity based on the ‘ethics of sharing’, which can help to transcend the binary between political theory and political practice.