The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory

Critical theory attracts undue reverence from people who find it a convenient bolt‐on to academic courses on social theory and cultural studies. Such opportunism usually arises from a knowledge of some (but by no means all) of the fundamental pronouncements of the Frankfurt School, above all Marxist critiques of social change, Kant's assumption of rationality, Hegelian views about history's impact on social rationality, and Freudian notions of social repression. If anything, this companion will serve to reformulate any simplistic picture of critical theory. It will also encourage readers to reflect on just what critical theory has achieved and where it...