“Pfister offers an illuminating discussion of how strategy can go beyond theoretical preoccupations to effect change. Throughout, Pfister draws usefully on his experience in the classroom and offers insights that will be rewarding for teachers of progressive critique. … The scope and accessibility of the book make it potentially important not only for specialists in cultural studies, American studies, and left studies, but also for academics and teachers in the social sciences and humanities and non-academics alike who are interested in the history and future of progressive critique. … Critique for What? Is, in short, an exceptional intellectual history that explains why critique matters and how it can be made to matter more.” —The Journal of American Studies "Absolutely excellent and incredibly rich, almost unique in its meditations."