Walter Benjamin
THE VITALITY OF CRITICAL THEORY
Emerald Group Publishing is pleased to announce the publication of: The Vitality of Critical Theory (Current Perspectives in Social Theory, Volume 28) By Harry F. Dahms
ISBN: 9780857247971
ISSN: 0278-1204
Publication date: 20th May 2011
Synopsis:
The common theme of the essays included in this volume is that the critical theory of the Frankfurt School is as important today as it was at its inception during the 1930s, and perhaps more so. What are the distinguishing features of this tradition? How is it critical of other approaches in the social sciences, and especially in sociology – and yet also complementary with many of these approaches?
The vanishing point of critical theory is not the replacement of diverse endeavors to illuminate the nature of modern society. Rather, its purpose is to bundle overly fragmented perspectives that have been developed in theoretical sociology. The goal is to facilitate the spelling-out of a narrative about the modern condition that is conducive to recognizing rigorously and confronting practically the contradictory and increasingly irreconcilable tensions and fault lines that are burdening and obstructing efforts to foster qualitative social changes, around the globe.
Essays included address the problematic analysis of political economy at the center of the early Frankfurt School, and the subsequent neglect of political economy; the continuing importance of alienation and reification as focal points of critical theory; differences in modes of critical theorizing during the twentieth century (with special emphases on Lukács, Adorno, Habermas, and Postone); globalization as an analytical and normative challenge critical theorists are uniquely positioned to confront; and the most problematic feature mainstream approaches in the social sciences have in common.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Lawrence Hazelrigg
Introduction
Harry F. Dahms
PART I: CRITICAL THEORY FROM LUKÁCS TO HABERMAS
Chapter 1: The Early Frankfurt School Critique of Capitalism: Critical Theory Between Pollock’s “State Capitalism” and the Critique of Instrumental Reason
Harry F. Dahms
Chapter 2: Theory in Weberian Marxism: Patterns of Critical Social Theory in Lukács and Habermas
Harry F. Dahms
Chapter 3: Beyond the Carousel of Reification: Critical Social Theory After Lukács, Adorno and Habermas
Harry F. Dahms
PART II: CRITICAL THEORY IN TIME AND SPACE: DYNAMIC APPLICATIONS
Chapter 4: Globalization or Hyper-Alienation? Critiques of Traditional Marxism as Arguments for Basic Income
Harry F. Dahms
Chapter 5: Does Alienation Have a Future? Recapturing the Core of Critical Theory
Harry F. Dahms
Chapter 6: How Social Science is Impossible without Critical Theory: The Immersion of Mainstream Approaches of Time and Space
Harry F. Dahms
References
Acknowledgements
Index
This title is available to purchase from the Emerald Bookstore and other online retailers. The eBook is available through the Emerald Social Sciences eBook collection. Individual chapters can be purchased or rented online.
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Emerald Group Publishing Limited
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