Critical Theory

ALAN HOW is Curriculum Leader for undergraduate sociology and Course Leader for the Masters programme at University College Worcester. His previous book is The Habermas-Gadamer Debate and the Nature of the Social (1995).

• ForewordIntroductionPART 1: HISTORICAL CONTOURSEarly Days, Early Doubts: From Optimism to AmbiguityDisillusion and the Rise of the Nietzschean StreakThe Reconstruction of Critical Theory: From Ideology Critique to Communicative ReasonPART 2: SUBSTANTIVE IDEAS: THE FIRST GENERATIONRationalisation as ReificationCritical Theory, the Family and the Narcissistic PersonalityPART 3: SUBSTANTIVE IDEAS: THE SECOND GENERATIONOvercoming the Impasse: Habermas's Reconstruction of Critical TheoryCritical Theory and PostmodernismPART 4: CONCLUSIONWhy Read Critical Theory?Further ReadingBibliography.

'How offers something new and valuable. The book's charm flows from the generosity of its authors enthusiasm combined with a near-faultless consideration of the reader's needs. Short enough to be unintimidating yet long enough to deal with the expository demands of technically difficult material... here is a book to excite teachers and students.' - John Parker, University of Wales, Swansea, The Times Higher Education Supplement