Critical theory and social pathology

This book provides a concise overview of the social theoretical foundations of Critical Theory.

The social-theoretical foundations of critical theory have crumbled. This is a result of the unchecked embrace of an aggressive variant of 'recognition theory'. While first-generation critical theorists grasped the potency of structural power as a force that reified thought, denatured the imagination and recoded desires, recognition theory views power as a post-hoc effect that exists only after intersubjective relations have been established. This is a troubling state of affairs and has led to the debilitation of the Frankfurt School's research programme. New and secure social-theoretical foundations are urgently needed. In this regard, the work of first-generation critical theorists such as Erich Fromm and Herbert Marcuse remains as powerful today as ever.