Critical Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Glad it talked about Adorno’s “Negative Dialectics “. Very clear non-postmodern introduction.

This was a perfect addition to my library. I'm in a higher education doctoral program and much of my research leans on critical theory. This book briefly broke down the history and contemporary ideas about critical theory. I while recommend this to any student that needs a quick way to grasp this theory without reading heady articles.

This book has so many abstract, obtuse statements as to render it useless for understanding anything.Consider a few illustrative quotes from “What is Critical Theory?”:Critical Theory refuses to identify freedom with any institutional arrangement or fixed system of thought (so Critical Theory must be primarily about freedom?).. This ethical imperative (so Critical Theory is about ethics?) led its primary thinkers to develop a cluster of themes and a new critical method (this “method” goes undefined in the book) that transformed our understanding of society (meaning its freedom?, its ethics?, meaning everything and anything else about it?)… He provided critical theory with its definition of scientific rationality, and its goal of confronting reality with the prospects of freedom (a scientific method which has something to do with freedom that is somehow related to confronting reality?)… They also speculated about the human hopes expressed by aesthetics, the redemptive longings of religions, and new ways of thinking about theory and practice.- So by now we have a scientific method to confront reality, expressed by aesthetics that has something to do with freedom?Much of the book is much too vague and abstract for an introduction - and if you don't already understand what Critical Theory is before reading this book, it's unlikely you'll understand what it is afterwards. A much BETTER introduction to Critical Theory is “The Devil’s Pleasure Palace”, by Michael Walsh. The author views Critical Theory as degenerating society’s morals and values – but at least he concretely explains what “Critical Theory” is.

OK, so, I won't even pretend that I understood everything in this book; despite its very short length. But... I can feel that something cracked inside my skull, and I caught intermittent, short glimpses of some "truth.". They were fleeting, yes, but they were amazing. I'm giving five start because I believe this book gave me precisely what was advertised: a "very short introduction". And, now, I absolutely must read and know more. Thankfully I know where to start because there a good, but concise, section on further reading. If only I'd been less interested in building a social life in college, I'd have spent a lot more time studying this stuff. Now I'm stuck forging ahead on my own. Thanks, Stephen Eric Bonner. I'm so proud you're at Rutgers!

This short little volume is an interesting introduction to critical theory, a philosophic mode of analysis that began with with dissident Marxist theorists Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer in the 1930s and continues in the present day in the work of thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas. Critical theory is concerned with what has traditionally been known as the "super-structure" in Marxist theory, that is, the culture, institutions, political power structures, roles, rituals, and state formations that accompany the mode of production for the things we live on. Critical theorists seek to analyze this superstructure, often with the intention of analyzing ways in which it can be modified in liberating ways. This volume highlights the incredible diversity in the thought of prominent critical theorists, from the often conservative and elitist writings of Horkheimer, to the sexually libertine musing of Marcuse and their strong retort in the very mild Erich Fromm. Yet this introduction suffers from some very large failings, most prominent of which are the author's cheap digs at figures or institutions he considers insufficiently progressive; he refers to "Tea Baggers" and "Fox News" as if their irrationality need not be demonstrated, something I'm inclined actually to agree with but that is wholly inappropriate for an academic title. I'm no fan of the Glenn Beck, but for someone who touts the virtues of the Habermasian public sphere I think it entirely necessary to engage with the content of his concerns and those of his followers if any progress is to be made.

I enjoy this "Very Short Introduction" series because it allows me to get a grip on specialist subjects without having to "do all the reading" required to familiarize myself with the obscure terminologies and assumptions that these areas tend to produce.The problem with this book, however, is that it never really introduces anything.The author, almost from the first few pages, starts deploying what I assume are stock terms and concepts developed by critical theory but he never bothers to define anything, or even pauses to briefly explain what the critical theorists mean by things like:"ontology of false conditions""liberation""great refusal""negation""utopia"Granted, I was able to put some things together by the end but I had to do it in much the same way that I would have had to do it if I were reading the sources themselves.It was written as if it were an "introduction to critical theory" for people already well-versed in the fundamentals of critical theory, and the author simply meant to situate that presumed understanding within a historical narrative. He explains the "story" of critical theory but hardly explains critical theory in its core concepts.I read the whole thing but my impression is that critical theory involves the very elaborate and obscure enunciation of an aspiration for "utopia" resulting in a more "liberated" humanity, which could mean pretty much anything.

Great overview

I learned a lot from this book about the writers of the Frankfurt school and managed to follow along most of the arguments. However the writing could have been clearer in many places, for example "an international avant-garde was contesting an emerging mass society with its emphasis upon bureaucracy, standardization, scientific rationality, and the commodity form." leave me wondering whether the "with" goes with the contesting or the mass society. This sort of sentence is typical. And for the subject matter problematic. If you know, you know, but as a book purporting to introduce the ideas of critical theory it doesn't always present the complex ideas clearly. Examples of modern media could have more explanation as to why they serve the point being made.

I must be thick as two bricks because I did not understand half of this book. Either Critical Theory is complex, or there is no way that an explanation can be simplified to my level of understanding.My understanding is that Critical Theory has changed considerably over the past 80 or so years. Even though there was a central school for this theory, the theory has been hollowed out in recent years to be just something that conservatives can hate without understanding what the theory is supposed to expound.The only time I got clarity was in the final chapter in which the author argues for a new direction for the development of Critical Theory as a continuation of the Enlightenment project. He argues that the lack of historical context has emasculated the critical theory development.Instead of just opposing the establishment, critical theory needs to embed itself in the scientific method and engage with the world at large.

Estou lendo ainda. Mas não está sendo muito esclarecedor. Tão vez por ser muito conciso. Não achei um bom livro de introdução ao tema.

Currently reading for an MA International Relations. This is a good solid companion guide which summarises Critical Theory well, in particular the foundation and evolution of the Frankfurt School. Actually sells itself a little short by calling itself a 'very short' guide; although small, it's actually not that short and could be considered a 'go to' text. Now lives firmly in my laptop bags. Finally, I am not an adherent to the Frankfurt School and found this a well balanced guide which doesn't seek to 'sell' Critical Theory and does indeed critique the School. Must have for an Political Science, IP or IR theory scholar.