scholarly journals Die Ordnung des Wissens

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (151) ◽  
pp. 255-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Kappeler
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Archaeology Of Knowledge ◽  
The One ◽  
Critical Social

In its first part, the article deals with Michel Foucaults "discourse analysis", as developed in his "Archaeology of knowledge". The second part considers the concept of discourse in relation to Foucaults "analytic of power" and to a critical theory of society inspired by Karl Marx, especially Louis Althussers notion of ideology. Thus, on the one hand, some propositions for a methodology of discourse analysis are being made, and, on the other hand, its position within a project of critical social theory is discussed.

scholarly journals Political praxis, social analysis and western modernization: a theoretical-political route for critical social theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-173
Author(s):  
Leno Francisco Danner ◽  
Fernando Danner
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Karl Marx ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Social Analysis ◽  
Erich Fromm ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Praxis ◽  
Critical Social

This paper criticizes the emphasis placed by contemporary social theory and political philosophy on institutionalism as the basis for the understanding, legitimation and changing of institutions, or social systems, and society as a whole. The more impactful characteristic of institutionalism is its technical-logical structuring, based on an impartial, neutral and formal proceduralism that autonomizes social systems in relation to political praxis and social normativity, depoliticizing these social systems. Here, they are no longer depoliticized, but assume political centrality as the fundamental social subjects of the legitimation and evolution of institutions and society. The paper’s central argument is that it is necessary to re-politicize the institutions and the social subjects or social classes in order to ground and streamline a direct political praxis and the civil society’s social-political subjects as the basis for framing and legitimizing the current process of Western modernization. Recovering the politicity and the carnality of institutions, of social classes and of the evolution of society, is the fundamental task for a contemporary critical social theory that faces the strong institutionalism based on systemic theory. Such politicization is the unforgettable teaching of Karl Marx and Erich Fromm: the institutions have political content and political subjects, they are the result of social struggles for hegemony between opposed social classes which are political. Now, such politicity-carnality must be unveiled and used for an emancipatory democratic political praxis as the route for social analysis and political change, in opposition to the technical-logical understanding both of the institutions and of the social subjects.

scholarly journals A Critical Discourse Analysis of Radi’s Dramas From behind the Windows and Hamlet with Season Salad Based on Van Leeuwen’s Framework "Representing Social Actions"

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-119
Author(s):  
Alireza Khormaee ◽  
Rayeheh Sattarinezhad
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

Different representations of social actions create distinct types of discourses. Applying van Leeuwen’s 'Social Actions' framework (2008), the present study critically analyzes the power relations between the main characters of Radi’s dramas From behind the Windows and Hamlet with Season Salad. The objective of our study is to account for the differences between the discourse of the dominant and the discourse of the dominated. In order to elucidate such differences we count and analyze the characters’ social (re)actions and, in turn, identify four types of contrasts: cognitive vs. affective and perceptive reactions; material vs. semiotic actions; transactive vs. non-transactive actions; interactive vs. instrumental actions. Two opposing discourses emerge from these contrasts. On the one hand, the dominant characters mostly react cognitively and their actions are often semiotic, transactive, and interactive. On the other hand, the dominated characters’ reactions are often affective and perceptive, while most of their actions are material, non-transactive, and instrumental. As the results show, the author’s linguistic choices underscore the power relations between the dominant and the dominated characters. Building upon the fact that our analysis sheds light on the underlying ideologies and intentions of the author, we tentatively conclude that despite its being predominantly employed in the analysis of political discourses, van Leeuwen’s framework also proves effective in the critical analysis of literary works.

‘Foundations of Social Theory’ oder ‘Foundations of Sociology’?

1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hartmut Esser
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Collective Effects ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Cultural Processes ◽  
Sociological Profession ◽  
The One ◽  
Present Understanding

AbstractThe comment deals with the relevance of Coleman’s Foundations of Social Theory for so called ‘sociological theory’. On the one hand Coleman’s work is an extraordinary contribution to the solution of some of the most important ‘classical’ questions of sociology. On the other hand it is to be expected that the enormous potential of the book probably has only limited effects within the wider sociological profession. One reason for that estimation is the unfamiliarity of many sociologists with Coleman’s instruments of aggregation of collective effects. The other - more important - reason is that Coleman almost completely leaves out any discussion of the importance of ‘symbolic’ and ‘cultural’ processes. Insofar the book is indeed a ‘Foundation of Social Theory’ but not a foundation of ‘sociology’ in its past and present understanding.

Afro-Pessimism and the (Un)Logic of Anti-Blackness

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Olaloku-Teriba
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Frantz Fanon ◽  
The Political ◽  
Racial Oppression ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Subtle Racism ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

AbstractIn the coming months and years, the left faces a historic juncture. On the one hand, racist violence is on the rise across the West, and the political class seems intent on mobilising both overt and subtle racism. On the other hand, strategies of anti-racist organising, which have developed on both sides of the Atlantic, have reached a theoretical impasse. I argue that now, more than ever, a serious project of historical and intellectual retrieval is necessary. This article interrogates the theoretical limitations of ‘anti-blackness’ as an analysis of racialised oppression. Through the thought of Frantz Fanon and Steve Biko, among others, I argue that theories of ‘anti-blackness’, specifically those rooted in Afro-pessimism, are predicated on a theoretical shift away from relational social theory to identitarian essentialism which obscures, rather than illuminates, the processes of racialisation which undergird racial oppression.

scholarly journals An der Oberfläche der Tauschgesellschaft

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (180) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lotz
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Capitalist Society ◽  
The Other ◽  
Natural Basis ◽  
Normative Concept ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Social Totality ◽  
The One ◽  
Ethical Idealism

In this paper I argue that we should not accept the normative turn that major contemporary critical theorists, such as Habermas, Honneth, and Jaeggi, have introduced to critical theory. On the one hand, the introduction of a communicative and ultimately ethical paradigm led to a loss of a dialectical concept of society. On the other hand, this turn led to a loss of a non-normative concept of critique. Accordingly, I argue that we should return to a Marxian concept of critique as analysis of (capitalist) social totality, which, in turn, enables us to re-introduce a concept of society that is not based on abstract moral or normative assumptions, but, instead, functions as their basis. For only a non-normative concept of critique can help us to see the finite and historical limits of capitalist society. Moreover, this return to Marx not only helps us understand that capitalist social totality is not established on ethical grounds but that it is constituted by money and labor. As a consequence, the return to a Marxist paradigm allows critical theory to include an analysis of the natural basis of capitalist sociality, of which it has lost sight due to its ethical idealism.

Marcuse Today: An Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 026327642110514
Author(s):  
Douglas Kellner ◽  
Rainer Winter
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social

This contribution serves as an invitation to a renewed exploration of Herbert Marcuse’s critical theory. It discloses his continued relevance for critical social theory and politics in the contemporary moment and why Marcuse should not be condemned to the dustbin of history but should be appropriated and developed in our contemporary conditions in which crises are multiplying.

The Reification of the Other as a Social Pathology

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 13-44
Author(s):  
Alexis Gros ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Formal Model ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Social Pathology ◽  
Social Critical ◽  
Alternative Reading

The present paper constitutes an attempt to articulate, systematize, and further develop the implicit traces of a phenomenological critical theory that, according to Michael Barber’s reading, are to be found in Schutz’s thought. It is my contention that a good way to achieve this aim is by reading Schutz against the background of novel, phenomenologically and hermeneutically informed accounts of Critical Theory in the tradition of the Frankfurt School, such as Hartmut Rosa’s. In order to achieve the stated objective, I will proceed in four steps. First (1), I will briefly reconstruct the mostly negative reception of phenomenology, the interpretive social sciences, and Schutz by both the Frankfurt School and contemporary critical social theory. Second (2), I will present Barber’s alternative reading of Schutzian phenomenology as entailing an implicit ethics and a rudimentary critical theory based thereon. Third (3), I will sketch out Rosa’s formal model of Critical Theory as an heuristic means for articulating Schutz’s unspoken social-critical insights. Finally (4), establishing a dialogue between Barber’s reading of Schutz and Rosa’s account, I will provide a preliminary articulation of Schutz’s rudimentary critical theory.

From Neo-Republicanism to Critical Republicanism

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-46
Author(s):  
Dorothea Gädeke
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critical Potential ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Republican Theory

The aim of this chapter is to show how what I call critical republicanism can be developed by rethinking the neo-republican theory of domination on the basis of a more continental line of republicanism. On the one hand, I argue that with regard to all three of the most important elements of a theory of non-domination, its normative core, the conception of domination, and its institutional implications, Pettit’s neo-republicanism does contain a powerful critical potential, too easily dismissed by some of his critics. On the other hand, I show how this critical potential can be strengthened by reconceptualizing each of the elements of his theory of domination from a perspective inspired by the Kantian line of republican thought and contemporary critical theory.

The Pacifist Tradition and Pacifism as Transformative and Critical Theory

Acorn ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-28
Author(s):  
Andrew Fiala ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Just War ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Critical Theories ◽  
Just War Tradition ◽  
Critical Social

Pacifism is often painted into a corner as an absolute rejection of all violence and war. Such a dogmatic and negative formulation of pacifism does leave us with pacifism as a morally problematic position. But pacifism is not best understood as a negative claim. Nor is pacifism best understood as a singular or monistic concept. Rather, there is a “pacifist tradition” that is grounded in an affirmative claim about the importance of nonviolence, love, community building, and peaceful conflict resolution. This more positive conception of pacifism aims to transform social and political life. When understood in this way, pacifism is a robust and useful critical social theory. This paper explores the philosophy of pacifism in an attempt to reconceptualize pacifism as a tradition of normative critical theory. The paper argues that pacifism ought to be understood on analogy with other critical theories—such as feminism; that pacifism should be understood in terms of the “pacifist tradition”—along lines familiar from interpretations of the “just war tradition”; and that pacifism should be seen as offering interesting themes and ideas that are worthy of philosophical attention.

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