Critical Social Theory Research Papers

- by and +1
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- Higher Education, Critical Social Theory
- by Nicolae Morar and +2
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- Critical Theory, Discourse Analysis, History, Cultural History

Enclosed is the syllabus and course notes from the upper division course I teach in PostModernism and Post-Marxist Critical Theory. It occurs to me that some of these essays--ranging from Horkheimer and Adorno, Baudrillard, Foucault, and the feminist post-modern theorist Donna Haraway may offer some insight and some tools for comprehending the dark times in which we live. While these essays may not be directly aimed at understanding the rise of phenomena like the Alt-Right, toxic masculinity, and particularly violent forms of patriarchy, I think they can show us something about the ideological trends that set us on out current morally troubling path.

- by Wendy Lynne Lee
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- Critical Theory, Feminist Theory, Marxism, Postcolonial Studies

My thesis in this paper is that anxiety plays a central role in the shaping of modern subjectivity and agency. My argument is that anxiety in contemporary society is distinct from the forms of anxiety that plagued industrial society in that it is a more complete and totalizing phenomenon that acts to constrict selfhood and regress the ego to more primitive states. As a result, the modern self loses its capacities for civic life and consciousness as anxiety grips the psyche. In what follows, I will reconstruct the theory of anxiety as a relational, and hence social phenomenon, that interpenetrates with the development of the self. Next, I will explore the thesis that a civic self is a specific manifestation of our psychic and agentic capacity for cognition and affect for “others,” one that, as it is reduced, is replaced with a need for security and group narcissism. After this, I will explore how the dynamics of contemporary society (what I call the “cybernetic society”) enhances and totalizes anxiety in such a way that withdrawal from civic life gives further impetus to the psyche’s need for connection to stave off existential angst, giving more force to strivings for group identification and exclusion of others.

- by Michael J. Thompson
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- Critical Theory, Social Theory, Psychoanalysis, Social Psychology

En el presente trabajo intento analizar con detenimiento el modo en que fue evolucionando el vínculo teorizado entre los actores y el cambio social en el mundo desde tiempos pretéritos, para lograr discernir en que marco de resolució￳n nos encontramos hoy en América Latina. En el texto voy a suponer que los tres componentes críticos que vienen definiendo las visiones de la relaci￳ón entre los actores y el cambio en el pensamiento social occidental son la unidad de transformaci￳ón en ultima instancia (UT), el vector de ordenamiento (VO) y el principio normativo rector (PN). Las formas concretas y los contenidos que asumieron tales componentes fueron cambiando a lo largo de la historia. Y con cada cambio se complejizó el escenario intelectual, a la vez que se fueron generando nuevos desacoples entre la progresió￳n material del mundo y su evolució￳n simbó￳lica.
Para intentar dimensionar la situaci￳ón que estamos atravesando en las ciencias sociales de nuestro continente propongo trazar una línea de progresió￳n que contempla las diferentes constelaciones intelectuales dominantes que se fueron sucediendo a lo largo de la historia occidental hasta la actualidad. En el texto distingo seis constelaciones consecutivas, cada una de las cuales se corresponde con una transformaci￳ón intelectual mayúscula, ligada a cambios histó￳ricos igualmente sustantivos. A los fines del presente trabajo cobran particular relevancia las tres últimas: i) la constelació￳n moderna clásica, ligada a un estado duradero de monopolio noreuropeo (mitad siglo XIX- mitad siglo XX), ii) la primera constelaci￳ón mundialista, de corta duraci￳ón, asociada a un momento excepcional de recreació￳n autó￳noma de América Latina (mitad siglo XX-fines década de 1970) y iii) la constelació￳n posdictatorial, de mediana duraci￳ón, cuya configuració￳n estuvo condicionada por los macroefectos producidos por la última ola de dictaduras militares desplegada en la regi￳ón (década de 1980-principios del siglo XXI). Cada una de las seis constelaciones que analizo en el trabajo fue delineando diferentes modos de articulaci￳ón, o bien de desactivaci￳ón, de los tres componentes críticos señ￱alados arriba.
Junto a ello, en el trabajo intento demostrar que desde principios del siglo XXI se viene descomponiendo en América Latina la constelaci￳ón posdictatorial de las ciencias sociales. Y señalo que ello está ocurriendo dado el mayor distanciamiento respecto a las experiencias de exterminio social de las décadas del 60 y del 70 del siglo XX, y sobre todo a partir de un conjunto de transformaciones, tanto negativas como positivas, que viene experimentando la regi￳ón en los últimos tiempos. Al final de este texto panorámico extraigo algunas conclusiones que permiten identificar algunos de los grandes desafíos que tenemos por delante para avanzar en la edificació￳n de una ciencia social unificada, aut￳ónoma y universalista, al servicio de la acci￳ón colectiva, y dotada de capacidades suficientes para escudri￱ñar el futuro latinoamericano en el torbellino de los procesos de cambio social mundial. El secreto vuelve a estar en el modo en que concebimos y articulamos la unidad de transformaci￳ón en ultima instancia (UT), el vector de ordenamiento (VO) y el principio normativo rector (PN) para repensar la relació￳n entre los actores y el cambio social en América Latina.

- by esteban torres
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- Critical Theory, Sociology, Social Change, Social Sciences

Urban Sustainability in Theory and Practice responds to the crises of sustainability in the world today by going back to basics. It makes four major contributions to thinking about and acting upon cities. It provides a means of reflexivity learning about urban sustainability in the process of working practically for positive social development and projected change. It challenges the usually taken-for-granted nature of sustainability practices while providing tools for modifying those practices. It emphasizes the necessity of a holistic and integrated understanding of urban life. Finally it rewrites existing dominant understandings of the social whole such as the triple-bottom line approach that reduces environmental questions to externalities and social questions to background issues. The book is a much-needed practical and conceptual guide for rethinking urban engagement.

- by Paul James and +2
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- Social Theory, Ontology, Social Sciences, Sustainable Production and Consumption

In this essay, I undertake a critical phenomenological exposition of the conditions of ethical community as they present themselves in light of the anthropocene. I begin by approaching the present human condition by following Arendt in her considerations of what more recently has been termed the Anthropocene. I will take her notion of the process character of action as a lodestar in a so-called anarcheological reading of Aristotle that opens for a thinking of unbounded possibility and unbounded affinity, and that shows how Aristotle's ethics, like so many other ethical and moral theories, is really a project of metaphysical closure in the face of the poignantly sensed, but theoretically marginalized, anarchic apertures of communitary life. In order to prepare for an ethics capable of perpetually affirming, rather than closing off, these anarchic apertures of the human condition, I bring the insights won in the anarcheological reading of Aristotle into conversation with accounts of the ethical responses presented by the Native American nation of the Crow toward the end of the 19 th century, when they-in a sense not-dissimilar to what we now experience in the anthropocene-faced the end of the world. I conclude by extracting form this some elements for a thinking of ethics at the end of worlds that affirms the unbounded apertures of human community.

- by Rasmus Dyring
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- Critical Social Theory, Phenomenology, Social Ontology, Hannah Arendt

In: Imke Hansen, Enrico Heitzer, Katarzyna Nowak (Hg.): Ereignis & Gedächtnis. Neue Perspektiven auf die Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager. Berlin 2014, S. 217-253; Zweitveröffentlichung in: Daniela Allmeier u.a. (Hg.): Erinnerungsorte in Bewegung. Zur Neugestaltung des Gedenkens an Orten nationalsozialistischer Verbrechen. Bielefeld: Transcript 2016.

- by Cornelia Siebeck
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- Social Theory, Cultural Geography, Museum Studies, Cultural Heritage
- by Alejandro Canales
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- Critical Social Theory, Migration Studies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider existing debates within the sociology of work, particularly the re-emergence of Labour Process Theory (LPT) and the 'collective worker', in relation to resistance at work. Through presentation of primary data and a dialectical discussion about the nature of ideology, the paper offers alternative interpretations on long-standing debates and raises questions about the efficacy of workplace resistance.
Design – The design of this methodology is an ethnographic study of a call centre in the North-East of England, a covert participant observation at ‘Call Direct’ supplemented by semi-structured interviews with call centre employees.
Findings – The findings in this paper suggest that resistance in the call centre mirrors forms of resistance outlined elsewhere in both the call centre literature and classical workplace studies from the industrial era. However, in presenting an alternative interpretation of ideology, as working at the level of action rather than thought, the paper reinterprets the data and characterises workplace resistance as lacking the political potential for change often emphasised in LPT and other workplace studies.
Originality – The original contribution of this paper is in applying an alternative interpretation of ideology to a long-standing debate. In asking sociology of work scholars to consider the ‘reversal of ideology’, it presents an alternative perspective on resistance in the workplace and raises questions about the efficacy of workplace disobedience.

- by Anthony Lloyd
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- Sociology, Sociology of Work, Critical Social Theory, Ideology

Society is as society does. The culture of a region is an extensive manifestation of the mindset of the individuals residing in it. One's ideas and beliefs are reﬂected in their behaviour and furthermore, their behaviour assumes the eventual collective identity of a cultural ground. These aspects can be noticed even in the most mundane parts of their life such as their understanding of certain bodily gestures, their approach towards using language and their perception of their surroundings. Ironically, one of the key aspects of this inclusive formulation of one's cultural identity is also one of the most often neglected aspects of the daily life – food. Hence, gastrocriticism emphasises upon a critical inquiry and an interdisciplinary approach towards food, culture, language, literature and society. The paper aims to focus on food as being an inherent part of the culture in the Indian subcontinent. Food in terms of being gendered as either masculine, feminine or neuter in diﬀerent Indian languages and consequently being associated with diﬀerent functions in daily life is a concept highlighted in the paper. For example, tea is perceived as a female entity in Bhavnagar, Gujarat in reference to its quality of being the nurturer and beginner of life (a day only truly begins with a cup of tea along with breakfast) to the townsfolk, whereas, it is addressed as a male entity in the language of urban Rajkot, 150 kilometers away from Bhavnagar, for its property of revitalising men at (and after) work. Moreover, the role of diﬀerent genders while cooking, both at home and professionally, is another important aspect in the paper. Food also plays a prominent role in the lives of individuals and shapes the media narrative of the contemporary age, throwing light on its culture and lifestyle. Thus, food being a harbinger of life, an ingrained feature of culture, a shaper of identity and an indisputable part of language and is focused upon in the paper.

- by Nivid Desai
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- Cultural Studies, Philosophy Of Language, Critical Social Theory, Gender

While many issues of diversity within organizations and corporations themselves are fairly well researched, less attention has been paid to how the business media creates narratives around diversity issues. As business practitioners consume business media, these narratives have a major influence on business practices such as hiring and management. In our chapter in a forthcoming book entitled Underneath the Thin Veneer: Critical Diversity, Multiculturalism, and Inclusion in the Workplace, we analyze the diversity narratives in 275 business media articles to understand how a relatively unidimensional perspective is perpetuated and legitimated given corporate diversity’s highly complex and intersecting nature with social issues. Here, we highlight some core findings of the study.

- by Michael L Rosino and +1
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- Business, Discourse Analysis, Media Sociology, Media Studies

This paper deals with Bourdieu’s relations of power (linguistic market) and Fanon’s Zone of Being and non-Being. The article is based on recent ethnographic sociolinguistic research in Andalusia, south of Spain. In this paper, I explore ways in which the decapitalisation of Andalusian speakers is part of a global hierarchisation of inferiorization. In this way, the language is a marker. A group’s devalued variety of language in the linguistic market is explained as ideology of domination with historical basis. Therefore, it is not a product of features of the no-legitimate language.

... If the social causes any further trouble, this trouble is now the exclusive subject matter of psychology ... above, a storm of memory, delirium, and guilt will rise to meet us, we should know that ... Like Walter Benjamin's... more

- by Eyal Rozmarin
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- Critical Theory, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Social Theory

This article attempts to present the unity as well as the difference between Hegel's and Dewey's social philosophical approaches to struggles for recognition. It argues that interpreting Dewey's Lectures in China as a commentary on Hegel sheds new light on Dewey's social philosophy as a recognition theoretical whole. Furthermore, the resulting "experimentalist" account of recognitive relations, norms and values might turn out to present a fruitful perspective in contemporary discussions on recognition.

Abstract
Hanna Ojamo: Arts Organizations of a New Era - A Case Study of the Changes in Funding and Leadership in State-Subsidized Arts Organizations in Finland (Working title of PhD Thesis 2017–2021)
How do changes in funding affect the leadership of the state-subsidized orchestras, theaters and art museums in 2017⏤2019? The research uses critical social theory and sociology to study the changes in leadership and funding in the arts organizations in the populist neoliberal political era and the state-subsidy system’s renewal process of 2016⏤ (VOS). Extensive background material was collected in 2015⏤2017 during the predoctoral study phase at the University of the Arts Helsinki. The emphasis of the research is in media analysis. Reports, social media conversations in the media, ministry documents, statistics, social policy documents, newspaper articles, interviews in the organizations as well as field observations of the researcher are analyzed in-depth. To understand the phenomenon and to put it in context, it studies the shift from the welfare arts policy discourse of the 1960s to the 2020’s competition society. The current state subsidy system favors some arts organizations heavily while leavings others outside. In the new legislation suggestion of 2018, incentives and choices were introduced in funding instead of even distribution of money. After he Finns party took over the Ministry of Education in Finland, May 2017, the renewal process has become politically ever more complex putting the new legislation in practice earliest in 2020. The framework of the study is critical social theory, J. Habermas’s theory of communicative action according to which active social parties form communication in the society. The method is critical discourse analysis (DA) combined with political context analysis and autoethnograpgy.
The research suggests that state-subsidized orchestras and art museums are experiencing great indirect and direct pressure in their leadership styles as a result of the changes in funding. Subsidies are under constant threat, the established arts institutions must endure the pressure of constant change. This in turn, reflects into organizational culture and has possible long-term effects on the identity and curricula of the institutions. The study suggests that leadership has not yet been fully adapted to meet the needs of the changing climate of funding, incentives and quality criteria. More flexibility, creativity and collaboration is needed for securing basic funding and keeping the subsidies in the future. The legitimacy of the arts is challenged by the populist coalition government. Audience development programs and fundraising are encouraged by the state. The research brings new knowledge on cultural policy, funding and leadership of orchestras and art museums of the mid-2010s for future managers when they navigate change. Preliminary findings of the study suggest that cultural policy and power in is a two-way discourse from the ministry level to the organizational level when negotiating funding for future arts organizations. The PhD thesis was started 1. September, 2017 and the estimated doctoral defense takes place in 2021.
Keywords: cultural policy; funding; arts organizations; leadership; critical social theory; sociology; change
Supervisors: Professor Tanja Johansson (PhD Sc.Econ.), Head of the Doctoral School, Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki; sub-supervisor PhD Pauli Rautiainen, Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Eastern Finland and Tampere University Faculty of Management

- by Hanna Ojamo
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- Sociology, Cultural Policy, Leadership, Political Science
- by Nadine Boulay
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- Psychology, Critical Disability Studies, Embodiment, Critical Social Theory

This article analyses how the development of theorisations of disability has been influenced by social movements. Firstly, it includes an analysis of the evolution of explanation models of disability, from the Medical Model to the Social Model. Secondly, it shows how the practice of social movements – especially, albeit not only, the movement for independent living – has been a key factor in the production of new concepts and theories to explain, and to act upon, disability. Finally, it selects a set of contributions from new social movements and contemporary radical theory in order to outline an anthropological perspective that surpasses the limitations of the Social Model, placing the axis of the reflection on the power devices and domination mechanisms that construct disability.

- by Beltrán Roca and +1
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- Social Movements, Social Theory, Disability Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology
- by Peter Bengtsen
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- Critical Theory, History, Cultural History, Sociology

Esej jest wprowadzeniem w polskie wydanie książki Hartmuta Rosy "Przyspieszenie, wyobcowanie, rezonans. Projekt krytycznej teorii późnonowoczesnej czasowości" – pierwszej książki Rosy wydanej w języku polskim. Jako że stanowi ona jednocześnie przystępne wprowadzenie w rozwijaną od dwóch dekad teorię i jej kluczowe pojęcia, przekład otwiera wreszcie możliwość polskiej recepcji twórczości tego socjologa. Niniejsze tłumaczenie bazuje na przeredagowanym niemieckim wydaniu (2013) popularnonaukowego eseju pt. "Acceleration and Alienation. Towards a Critical Theory of Late-modern Temporality" (2010). Publikacją tą autor podsumowywał wiele lat badań nad zjawiskiem przyspieszenia i jego wpływu na życie indywidualne oraz wspólnotowe.

- by Jacek Koltan
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- Critical Theory, Sociology, Social Theory, Social Philosophy

Objetivo. Desarrollar una reflexión sobre cómo incorporar la dimensión espacial en el análisis que todo diseño de intervenciones sociales requiere. Metodología. A partir de la vinculación de la obra de Henri Lefebvre, con el campo de trabajo social y la experiencia docente en una escuela de trabajo social chilena, se elabora una propuesta teórico-metodológica propia. Resultado. Se plantea una forma de análisis general que considera lo espacial como consustancial a lo social, desde una perspectiva trialéctica. Esta integra las dimensiones material, subjetiva y social en escalas macro, meso y micro. Conclusiones. Se estima que la propuesta desarrollada permite superar miradas ingenuas o conservadoras y aquella perspectiva que concibe lo territorial como un mero nivel de intervención. Adicionalmente, se indican un conjunto de desafíos que surgen a partir de esta propuesta. Palabras clave: espacio, análisis, teoría, metodología, intervención social, trabajo social. Abstract Objective. To develop a reflection on how to incorporate the spatial dimension in the analysis that all design of social interventions requires. Methodology. Based on the connection between the work of Henri Lefebvre and the field of Social Work, and the teaching experience in a Chilean school of social work, an own theorical-methodological proposal is elaborated. Results. A general form of analysis is proposed that considers the spatial as consubstantial to the social, from a trialectics perspective. This proposal integrates material, subjective and social dimensions, on macro, meso and micro scales. Conclusions. It is considered that this proposal allows overcoming naive or conservative views, and perspectives that conceive the territorial area as a mere level of intervention. Additionally, a set of challenges that arise from this proposal are indicated.

- by Felipe Saravia Cortés
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- Critical Social Theory, Social Work Education, Henri Lefebvre, Space

The coastal Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca, Mexico – known locally as the Istmo – is regarded as one of the best wind energy generating sites in the world. Marketed as a preeminent solution to mitigating climate change, wind energy is now applying increasing pressure on indigenous groups in the region. The article begins by outlining a definition of colonialism that assists in identifying the temporal continuity of the colonial project to understand its relationship with wind energy development. The next section briefly reviews colonial genocide studies, discussing disciplinary debates between liberal and post-liberal genocide scholars, the relevance of self-management within colonial systems, the genocide-ecocide nexus and the ‘intent’ of destructive development projects. This leads into reviewing the claims and findings that emerged from fieldwork in the Istmo, which is divided into the north and south to show the different, yet similar dynamics taking place in the region. Finally, the article concludes that wind energy development as a ‘solution’ to climate change not only distracts from its dependence on fossil fuels and mining, but renews and continues a slow industrial genocide, assimilating and targeting (indigenous) people who continue to value their land, sea and cultural relationships.

- by Alexander Dunlap
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- Critical Theory, Sociology, Geography, Human Geography

Since the early years of New Zealand’s settlement, and leading into the present, scholars across various disciplines have drawn attention to the presence, and prevalence, of a national anti-intellectual culture. However, there is no single comprehensive work which expressly addresses the origins of anti-intellectual tendencies in the local context. This thesis is offered as a contribution to what is recognised as a lack of literature in this precise area. Against the idea that anti-intellectualism is simply a consequence of New Zealand’s pioneer heritage, I propose that anti-intellectualism is closely associated with broader historical trends and developments transposed from Europe. Specifically, it is argued that the decline of feudal relations, and the rise of Protestantism, were together conducive to the production of a conceptual apparatus and value system which privileged mercantile, worldly activity over the life of the mind. This value system, carried to New Zealand with early European settlers, was particularly amenable to the conditions of the colony, and was there brought to its logical conclusion, leading to an intensification of existing anti-intellectual sentiments. It is argued that such sentiments continue to be expressed today, as anti-intellectualism does not remain purely as a residue of the nation’s frontier past, but is rather reproduced and renewed under contemporary conditions.

Este trabajo consiste en una exploración teórica de la conceptualización de la condición trans en las ciencias sociales. Desde una perspectiva situada en la zona gris entre la filosofía y las ciencias sociales y a través de Bourdieu y de las ideas del feminismo radical y posmoderno, se acoge una discusión en torno a algunos de los trabajos sobre esta población en España. Posteriormente, se esboza una sociología de las vidas trans.

- by Rosa María García
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- Gender Studies, Translation Studies, Critical Social Theory, Feminism
- by Gerhard Thonhauser
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- Social Theory, Marxism, Critical Social Theory, Post-Marxism
- by Ulf Bohmann
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- Critical Theory, Political Theory, Critical Social Theory, Recognition
- by John Schostak
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- Critical Theory, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Media Sociology

The way in which societies institutionalize “collective memory” is one of the most important aspects of contemporary politics, feeding directly into the constitution of individual and communal identities, and creating sources of discord and dialogue. This essay explores some of the most significant issues at stake in debates over the political uses of the past. I suggest that it is important to distinguish between three modes of historical consciousness, memory, mythology, and critical history. I then offer a critique of Avishai Margalit’s "The Ethics of Memory" (2002), arguing that in failing to allow space for “acknowledging” the plurality of communal myths his strong communitarian conception of mnemonic ethics leaves room for the perpetuation of asymmetric power relations and the imposition of hegemonic identities. Developing this line of thought, the essay then explores some of the ways in which agonistic democratic theorists might think through the relationship between past and present, myth and history. I argue that it is necessary to avoid procedures and institutions that entrench diverse identities while simultaneously establishing conditions in which different communities can freely propound their historical identity-constitutive claims.

- by Duncan Bell
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- Critical Theory, Social Theory, Mythology, Philosophy
- by Alexandre Leskanich
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- Social Theory, Political Philosophy, Architecture, Cultural Theory
- by Werner Bonefeld
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- Critical Theory, Sociology, Economic Sociology, Political Sociology

Back cover text: Real Social Science presents a new, hands-on approach to social inquiry. The theoretical and methodological ideas behind the book, inspired by Aristotelian phronesis, represent an original perspective within the social sciences, and this volume gives readers for the first time a set of studies exemplifying what applied phronesis looks like in practice. The reflexive analysis of values and power gives new meaning to the impact of research on policy and practice. Real Social Science is a major step forward in a novel and thriving field of research. This book will benefit scholars, researchers, and students who want to make a difference in practice, not just in the academy. Its message will make it essential reading for students and academics across the social sciences.

- by Bent Flyvbjerg and +1
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- Screenwriting, Critical Theory, Critical Theory, Critical Theory

- by Bent Flyvbjerg and +1
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- Screenwriting, Critical Theory, Critical Theory, Critical Theory

This paper argues that critical theory can benefit from a return to the structural-functionalist paradigm abandoned by contemporary thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas and Axel Honneth. It argues that the work of Talcott Parsons can be re-read to give critical theory a more satisfying explanation of the nature of modern forms of authority and domination. By placing emphasis on the ways in which values are inculcated in individuals mediating their personality development, Parsons is able to provide an important layer of understanding to the nature of modern society. I continue to argue for a fusion of Parsons' work with that of Marx, particularly his theory of ideology, in order to provide a critical framework for contemporary critical social theory.

- by Michael J. Thompson
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- Critical Theory, Social Theory, Critical Social Theory, Frankfurt School

Diatribe decalcada da mordaz crítica do pintor-poeta Almada-Negreiros - tomando o seu "Manifesto Anti-Dantas" como modelo de crítica social - dirigida à classe política actual. O tom é de diagnóstico, denúncia e tiro certeiro, afinal os... more

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