Abstract
The strengths and weaknesses of common-sense thinking, with a consideration of alternative thinking strategies – and their relevance to stimulating reflective social action – are the main focus of this chapter. Clifford Geertz’s definition of common sense is explained. The durability of common sense thinking in the student population is considered and explored with an historical perspective on the hostility of English political thinkers to the concept of “theory”. Five examples of contemporary common-sense thinking are analysed while the Italian theorist Antonio Gramsci’s concept of the organic intellectual is outlined as is its on-going relevance to social activists. Finally, the chapter considers the current neoliberal “common sense” vocabulary and how it can be opposed for collective action purposes.
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