Critical Theory and the Critique of Alternative Societies

Neal Harris is Associate Professor in Sociology and Politics at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

• Introduction1 The rise of alternative societies: Incoherent pluralism and actionism2 Frankfurt School critical theory: Lessons from a missing revolution3 Workers’ co-operative firms and interstitial revolution4 Mutual aid groups and prefigurative revolution5 Universal Basic Income: Symbiotic revolution and accelerationism6 The case for critique: Corrective, transformative, therapeuticConclusion

‘The time has come to take the excesses of left political theory to critical task. In this bold new book, one of the most important new voices in the Critical Theory tradition does just that. Neal Harris confronts the advocates of pre-figurative politics and those that glibly assert that capitalism can be transformed from within. Harris shows how deeply powerful capitalism as a social system actually is and how a new critical theory will be needed to cultivate a more muscular and politically relevant movement politics that will be capable of genuine social transformation.’— Michael J. Thompson, Professor of Political Theory, William Paterson University‘This very important and challenging book draws on early critical theory in a sustained and nuanced evaluation of post-capitalist projects.’— William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University.‘In this erudite and compelling book, Neal Harris embarks on an analysis of purportedly emancipatory forces as these manifest in debates over the future of capitalism and the prospect for alternative societies. The illustrative focus of the argument – mutual aid groups, workers co-operatives and universal basic income – comprises a detailed examination of the strengths and weaknesses of progressive activisms in this regard. But the refreshingly sceptical feel to the analysis is no mere exercise in exposing wishful thinking. Rather, it is a sustained and accessible attempt to identify and apply the contribution of the “first generation” of Frankfurt School critical thinking to problems of contemporary social constitution and transformation. Thus it stands as a significant contribution to the political sociology of large-scale, long-term social change.’— Barrie Axford, Emeritus Professor in Politics, Oxford Brookes University‘The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the “state of emergency” in which we live is not the exception but the rule. We must attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with this insight’. Walter Benjamin's observation from 1940 – written in dark times which can be paralleled with our times – can be read as a starting point for the analytical approach Neal Harris is fulfilling in his new outstanding study, Critical theory and the critique of alternative societies: Cooperatives, mutual aid and universal basic income. In the footsteps of early Frankfurt School, Harris has written a challenging analysis of conceptions trying to deal with the realisation of transformative politics and establishing alternative societies – beyond capitalism with its violence, power games, alienation and negation of human subjectivity. All these approaches, Harris argues in sophisticated reflections, are falling under the spell of the capitalist mode of production and its mode of societalisation. This happens because these approaches favour activism over radical critique, as Harris shows in following Adorno. This study is a ‘must read’ for all interested in the foundations of radical emancipatory change of capitalism.— Dr. h.c. Heinz Sünker, Rudolf Carnap Senior Research Professor at the University of Wuppertal, Germany & Honorary Professor at the University of Aarhus, Denmark