Critique as Social Practice

Critical Theory and Social Self-Understanding

By: Robin Celikates, Naomi van Steenbergen (Translator)

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eText | 8 May 2018 | Edition Number 1

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Can critical theory diagnose ideological delusion and false consciousness from above, or does it have to follow the practices of critique ordinary agents engage in? This book argues that we have to move beyond this dichotomy, which has led to a theoretical impasse. Whilst ordinary agents engage in complex forms of everyday critique, it must remain the task of critical theory to provide analysis and critique of social conditions that obstruct the development of reflexive capacities and of their realization in corresponding practices of critique. Only an approach that is at the same time non-paternalistic, pragmatist, and dialogical as well as critical will be able to realize the emancipatory potential of the Frankfurt School tradition of critical theory in radically changing social circumstances.

The translation of this work was funded by Geisteswissenschaften International – Translation Funding for Humanities and Social Sciences from Germany, a joint initiative of the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office, the collecting society VG WORT and the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publisher & Booksellers Association)

Industry Reviews

Celikates’s book is a

key part of an important resurgence in the tradition

of critical theory. Critique as Social Practice forms the

basis for Celikates’s more recent work on social

philosophy and civil disobedience, while also

providing important resources for the broader

scholarly conversation on critical theory and the place

of critique in the contemporary social and political

environment.