Domestication of Critical Theory

Michael J. Thompson is Professor of Political Science at William Paterson University. He is the author of Radical Intellectuals and the Subversion of Progressive Politics (2015) and the editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Theory (2017) and Hegel's Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Politics (2018).

• Preface / Introduction: How Critical Theory was Domesticated / Part I: The Present State of Critical Theory / 1. The Rise of Neo-Idealist Critical Theory / 2. One-Dimensional Rationality and the Limits of Pragmatist Reason / 3. The Insufficiency of Recognition: A Critique of Axel Honneth’s Concept of Critical Theory / Part II: Reconstructing the Logic of Critical Social Theory / 4. Structure and Consciousness: Reconsidering the Base-Superstructure Hypothesis / 5. System and Function: The Normative Basis of Social Power / 6. Fact and Value: The Epistemological Framework of Critical Theory / Part III: Renewing Critical Philosophy / 7. Against the Postmetaphysical Turn: Toward a Critical Social Ontology / Bibliography / Index

Michael J. Thompson’s trenchant critique of the later 20th century linguistic turn in critical theory recovers its Hegelian-Marxian and Weberian roots and revives its critique of capitalism. Thompson’s timely, lucidly argued reconstruction of the tradition provides vital analytical resources for illuminating immanent contradictions of the neoliberal regime and envisioning afresh progressive or emancipatory alternatives.