Showing papers on "Critical theory published in 2010"
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual framework for analysing and comparing the nature of critical citizenship education is proposed, based on an analysis of the prevailing models of critical pedagogy and citizenship education, which can range from abstract and technical skills under the label "critical thinking" to a desire to encourage engagement, action and political emancipation.
Abstract: Increasingly, countries around the world are promoting forms of ‘critical’ citizenship in the planned curricula of schools. However, the intended meaning behind this term varies markedly and can range from a set of abstract and technical skills under the label ‘critical thinking’ to a desire to encourage engagement, action and political emancipation, often labelled ‘critical pedagogy’. This article distinguishes these manifestations of the ‘critical’ and, based on an analysis of the prevailing models of critical pedagogy and citizenship education, develops a conceptual framework for analysing and comparing the nature of critical citizenship.
290 citations
TL;DR: In this article, critical race theory is presented as a paradigmatic framework that focuses on both institutions and the pain they create for marginalized people, addressing root causes and personal distress while pursuing transformational change.
Abstract: Rapidly changing demographics in the United States, the 2008 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards, and recent developments in the literature that question the effectiveness of multiculturalism and cultural competence suggest social work education, research, and practice are in need of a new approach to diversity. In conceptualizing diversity, social workers need to address a broad social context that includes institutional/structural arrangements, recognize the intersection of multiple identities, and integrate an explicit social justice orientation. This article presents critical race theory as a paradigmatic framework that focuses on both institutions and the pain they create for marginalized people. The critique is multidimensional, addressing root causes and personal distress while pursuing transformational change.
238 citations
Book•
09 Apr 2010
TL;DR: In Between Reason and Experience, leading philosopher of technology Andrew Feenberg makes a case for the interdependence of reasonscientific knowledge, technical rationality, and experience as mentioned in this paper, and examines different aspects of the tangled relationship between technology and society from the perspective of critical theory of technology.
Abstract: The technologies, markets, and administrations of today's knowledge society are in crisis. We face recurring disasters in every domain: climate change, energy shortages, economic meltdown. The system is broken, despite everything the technocrats claim to know about science, technology, and economics. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that today powerful technologies have unforeseen effects that disrupt everyday life; the new masters of technology are not restrained by the lessons of experience, and accelerate change to the point where society is in constant turmoil. In Between Reason and Experience, leading philosopher of technology Andrew Feenberg makes a case for the interdependence of reasonscientific knowledge, technical rationalityand experience. Feenberg examines different aspects of the tangled relationship between technology and society from the perspective of critical theory of technology, an approach he has pioneered over the past twenty years. Feenberg points to two examples of democratic interventions into technology: the Internet (in which user initiative has influenced design) and the environmental movement (in which science coordinates with protest and policy). He examines methodological applications of critical theory of technology to the case of the French Minitel computing network and to the relationship between national culture and technology in Japan. Finally, Feenberg considers the philosophies of technology of Heidegger, Habermas, Latour, and Marcuse. The gradual extension of democracy into the technical sphere, Feenberg argues, is one of the great political transformations of our time. Inside Technology series
153 citations
01 Feb 2010
TL;DR: The authors report on the opportunities for transformational learning experienced by a group of pre-service teachers who were engaged in service-learning as a pedagogical process with a focus on reflection.
Abstract: This paper reports on the opportunities for transformational learning experienced by a group of pre-service teachers who were engaged in service-learning as a pedagogical process with a focus on reflection. Critical social theory informed the design of the reflection process as it enabled a move away from knowledge transmission toward knowledge transformation. The structured reflection log was designed to illustrate the critical social theory expectations of quality learning that teach students to think critically: ideology critique and utopian critique. Butin's lenses and a reflection framework informed by the work of Bain, Ballantyne, Mills and Lester were used in the design of the service-learning reflection log. Reported data provide evidence of transformational learning and highlight how the students critique their world and imagine how they could contribute to a better world in their work as a beginning teacher.
129 citations
TL;DR: The authors report on the opportunities for transformational learning experienced by a group of pre-service teachers who were engaged in service learning as a pedagogical process with a focus on reflection.
Abstract: This paper reports on the opportunities for transformational learning experienced by a group of pre‐service teachers who were engaged in service‐learning as a pedagogical process with a focus on reflection. Critical social theory informed the design of the reflection process as it enabled a move away from knowledge transmission toward knowledge transformation. The structured reflection log was designed to illustrate the critical social theory expectations of quality learning that teach students to think critically: ideology critique and utopian critique. Butin’s lenses and a reflection framework informed by the work of Bain, Ballantyne, Mills and Lester were used in the design of the service‐learning reflection log. Reported data provide evidence of transformational learning and highlight how the students critique their world and imagine how they could contribute to a better world in their work as a beginning teacher.
110 citations
TL;DR: This paper argued that human security has lost any true critical potential and has become a new orthodoxy and argued that while the concept may have value in highlighting particular issues and may enable short-term gains, it is unable to provide the basis for a substantive change of the system of international security.
Abstract: Narratives of human security have been widely adopted and adapted within both academic and policy communities. Despite debates over its meanings and uses, the concept has proven to be remarkably resilient. In particular, there has a been a surprising willingness by critical scholars not only to analyse and critique human security, but also to embrace it as a means of furthering political goals. This article maps the ways in which various strands of critical scholarship in international relations have striven to use human security. It concludes by arguing that human security has lost any true critical potential and has become a new orthodoxy. Thus, while the concept may have value in highlighting particular issues and may enable short-term gains, it is unable to provide the basis for a substantive change of the system of international security.
88 citations
TL;DR: This article explore two areas that critical pedagogy can address to move beyond critique: the importance of a movement formed by diverse elements, in which difference and disagreement are harnessed to help drive change; and the use of this diversity to direct change at a range of levels.
Abstract: While the term critical pedagogy embraces a range of writers and literature, a common feature of all is a belief that education and society are intrinsically inter-related and that the fundamental purpose of education is to improve social justice. However there are perceptions that critical pedagogy has been more successful in critiquing educational and social practices than in achieving actual change. In this paper I explore two areas that critical pedagogy can address to move beyond critique: the importance of a movement formed by diverse elements, in which difference and disagreement are harnessed to help drive change; and the use of this diversity to direct change at a range of levels. My analysis draws specifically on literature that challenges managerialist assumptions about change as a simple, technical process, focusing instead on the complexities of the social world and the attendant complexities of achieving educational and social change.
85 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that electronic social movement organizations, such as MoveOn, are in many ways broadening public opinion and the public sphere, and draw on the work of Habermas and theories of the Internet to illustrate how ICTs can revitalize communicative action in the public domain and thus enhance participatory democracy.
Abstract: In much of the recent literature on contemporary social movements there is call for a re-conceptualization of the definition and understanding of political struggle given the impact of new emerging information communication technologies (ICTs), and the Internet in particular, on social movement organizing, contentious politics, and the electoral political process. This paper undertakes an analysis of MoveOn within a critical theory framework and argues that electronic social movement organizations, such as MoveOn, are in many ways broadening public opinion and the public sphere. It draws on the work of Habermas and theories of the Internet to illustrate how ICTs can revitalize communicative action in the public sphere and thus enhance participatory democracy.
82 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify main projects of critical pedagogy, and explore overarching politics that underlie the field of critical education, and identify three overarching projects, which they call the project of exper...
Abstract: The proponents of critical pedagogy criticize the earlier Neo‐Marxist theories of education, arguing that they provide only a ‘language of critique’. By introducing the possibility of human agency and resistance, critical pedagogists attempt to develop not only a pedagogy of critique, but also to build a pedagogy of hope. Fundamentally, the aim of critical pedagogy is twofold: 1) to correct the pessimistic conclusions of Neo‐Marxist theories, and 2) to transform a ‘language of critique’ into a ‘language of possibility’ (, p. 108). Then, what political projects do critical pedagogies present to us? What alternative visions of schooling do critical pedagogies offer against the mainstream pedagogy? The purpose of this paper is to identify main projects of critical pedagogy, and to explore overarching politics that underlie the field of critical pedagogy. Although there are diverse theories and approaches in critical pedagogy, three overarching projects can be identified, which I call: 1) the project of exper...
75 citations
Book•
18 Feb 2010
TL;DR: In this article, Critical Theory: The Early Programme 3. Communicative Action and Reason 4. Discourse Ethics 6. Democracy, Law and Politics 7. Beyond Traditional Politics Bibliography Index
Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. Critical Theory: The Early Programme 3. The Public Sphere 4. Communicative Action and Reason 5. Discourse Ethics 6. Democracy, Law and Politics 7. Beyond Traditional Politics Bibliography Index
63 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the core tenets of critical social theory are outlined and the issues facing evaluators conducting critical theory evaluation are described, and the authors advocate for more, not less, attention being paid to a critical theory approach in evaluation.
Abstract: This chapter outlines the core tenets of critical social theory and describes inherent issues facing evaluators conducting critical theory evaluation. Using critical pedagogy as an example, the authors describe the issues facing evaluators by developing four of the subtheories that comprise a critical social theory: (a) a theory of false consciousness, (b) a theory of crisis, (c) a theory of education, and (d) a theory of transformative action. They conclude by advocating for more, not less, attention being paid to a critical theory approach in evaluation. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association.
01 Sep 2010
TL;DR: In this article, an Inevitable Question: Exploring the Defining Features of Social Justice Art Education is explored. But the authors do not discuss the role of social justice in art education.
Abstract: (2010). An Inevitable Question: Exploring the Defining Features of Social Justice Art Education. Art Education: Vol. 63, No. 5, pp. 6-13.
Book•
16 Apr 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, Horkheimer's critical theory is described as a critique of ideology and the dialectic of enlightenment, and the critique of critical theory can be seen as a form of language and politics.
Abstract: Preface List of abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Horkheimer's critical theory 3. The critique of ideology 4. The dialectic of enlightenment 5. Technological rationality 6. Language and politics 7. Critique of critical theory 8. Conclusion Notes Index.
TL;DR: In this article, critical theory is used as an ideological foundation to bridge the dichotomous approach between micro and macro social work practice, which fits well with the professional values of enhancement of people's well-being, promotion of social justice, and empowerment of oppressed populations.
Abstract: Social work is rich in ideologies and traditions. One of our defining characteristics has been that we struggle with dichotomies. The focus of this article relates to our practice dichotomy: the struggle between service to the individual and change of the environment. This article uses critical theory as an ideological foundation to bridge the dichotomous approach between micro and macro social work practice. Applying critical theory to social work practice fits well with the professional values of enhancement of people's well-being, promotion of social justice, and empowerment of oppressed populations, while blending micro and macro practice. The article concludes with guidelines for critical social work practice.
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed case study of late 18th century Lima, Peru is presented to explicate the dynamics of colonialism, the construction of racial identities, and different power/knowledge configurations within a particular locale.
Abstract: Geographical concerns with space and place have escaped the confines of the discipline of geography. Many humanities scholars now invoke such conceptions as a means to integrate diverse sources of information and to understand how broad social processes play out unevenly in different locations. The social production of spatiality thus offers a rich opportunity to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogues between different schools of critical theory. Following a brief assessment of the spatial turn in history, history of science, and political philosophy, this paper explores its implications for literary and cultural studies. It invokes a detailed case study of late 18th century Lima, Peru to explicate the dynamics of colonialism, the construction of racial identities, and different power/knowledge configurations within a particular locale. Space in this example appears as both matter and meaning, i.e., as simultaneously tangible and intangible, as a set of social circumstances and physical landscapes and as a constellation of discourses that simultaneously reflected, constituted, and at times undermined, the hegemonic social order. The intent is to demonstrate how multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship can be facilitated by paying attention to the unique of circumstances that define places within given historical moments. As seen in this example from literary colonial studies, other disciplines, therefore, can both draw from and contribute to poststructuralist interpretations of space as a negotiated set of situated practices.
26 Apr 2010
TL;DR: Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action and its application in education are discussed in this article, where the authors present a critical analysis of the theory and its applicability in the context of education.
Abstract: Section 1: Introduction 1. Communication, Deliberation, Reason: An Introduction to Habermas, Mark Murphy and Ted Fleming Section 2: Key Issues and Debates in Habermas and Education 2. Educational Implications of the Idea of Deliberative Democracy, Tomas Englund 3. Communicative Utopia and Political Re-Education, Marianna Papasthephanou 4. The Concept of Lifeworld and Education in Post-Modernity: A Critical Appraisal of Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action, Sigmund Ongstad 5. Habermas, Eurocentrism and Education: The Indigenous Knowledge Debate, Raymond A. Morrow 6. Forms of Rationality and Public Sector Reform: Habermas, Education and Social Policy, Mark Murphy Section 3: Habermas Applied: Critical Theory And Educational Provision 7. Developing Competence in Collegial Spaces: Exploring Critical Theory and Community Education, John Bamber 8. Condemned to Learn: Habermas, University and the Learning Society, Ted Fleming 9. Learning Democratic Reason: The Adult Education Project of Jurgen Habermas, Stephen Brookfield 10. Citizenship, Discourse Ethics and an Emancipatory Model of Lifelong Learning, Clarence W. Joldersma and Ruth Deakin Crick 11. Practice and Theory of Narrative Inquiry in Education, Carola Conle 12. Educating Social Workers for Lifeworld and System, Barry Cooper 13. Jurgen Habermas, Critical Social Theory and Nursing Education: Implications for Caring in Nursing, Jane Sumner Section 4: Conclusion 14. Taking Aim at the Heart of Education: Critical Theory and the Future of Learning, Ted Fleming and Mark Murphy
Book•
06 Aug 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, critical theories, radical pedagogies, and social education are explored as viable alternatives in responding to current neo-conservative and neo-liberal educational policies shaping social studies curriculum and teaching.
Abstract: Critical Theories, Radical Pedagogies, and Social Education: New Perspectives for Social Studies Education begins with the assertion that there are emergent and provocative theories and practices that should be part of the discourse on social studies education in the 21st century. Anarchist, eco-activist, anti-capitalist, and other radical perspectives, such as disability studies and critical race theory, are explored as viable alternatives in responding to current neo-conservative and neo-liberal educational policies shaping social studies curriculum and teaching.
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of teacher identity and micro-level interaction in the construction of power relations in the critical classroom is investigated and the findings suggest that applied critical theories are often too simplistic, assuming that power can be straightforwardly transferred from the "powerful" to the "powerless" and that power was not effectively redistributed as intended.
Abstract: The role of teacher identity and micro-level interaction in the construction of power relations in the critical classroom is investigated. This study took place in an American university in an English composition program that had implemented ‘critical pedagogy’, an applied critical theory that has the goal of changing the traditional power relations between teachers and students. Analysis of the institutional context and the discursive construction of teachers’ identities revealed contradictions between this goal and some of the teaching practices and suggested that power was not effectively redistributed as intended. The findings suggest that applied critical theories are often too simplistic, assuming that power can be straightforwardly transferred from the ‘powerful’ to the ‘powerless’. It is argued that proponents of such theories have under-theorized the notion of power, overlooking the paradox of ideology, which points to the role of micro-level interaction in the construction of power relations.
Book•
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: The Critical Theory for Library and Information Science: Exploring the Social from Across the Disciplines as mentioned in this paper provides a comprehensive introduction to the critical theorists important to the LIS audience, and gives insights into how such theory can be incorporated into actual LIS research and practice.
Abstract: This text provides an overview of major critical theorists from across disciplines-including the humanities, social sciences, and education-that discusses the importance of these critical perspectives for the advancement of LIS research and scholarship. The practical application of library and information science is based upon 75 years of critical theory and thought. Therefore, it is essential for students and faculty in LIS to be familiar with the work of a wide range of critical theorists. The aim of Critical Theory for Library and Information Science: Exploring the Social from Across the Disciplines is to provide a comprehensive introduction to the critical theorists important to the LIS audience, and to give insights into how such theory can be incorporated into actual LIS research and practice. This book consists of chapters on individual critical theorists ranging from Aglietta to Habermas to Spivak, written by an international group of library and information science scholars. Each chapter provides an overview of the theoretical stance and contributions of the theorist, as well as relevant critical commentary. This book will be particularly valuable as a reference text of core readings for those pursuing doctoral or masters level degrees in LIS. A basic bibliography of the theorist's work follows each topic presentation; some chapters also include works of critical commentary on the theorist's writings Indexes of key terms and concepts are provided throughout the chapters
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors offer an alternative perspective on educational leadership based on the tenets of critical spirituality, which offers an educational leadership grounded in critical theory and African American spirituality, and provide school leaders with a conceptual frame that not only centers on academic achievement but academic achievement in a more equitable and democratic space.
Abstract: This article offers an alternative perspective on educational leadership based on the tenets of critical spirituality. It offers an educational leadership grounded in critical theory and African American spirituality. The two coalesce to provide school leaders with a conceptual frame that not only centers on academic achievement but academic achievement in a more equitable and democratic space. Critical spirituality dares to challenge leaders to serve as organic intellectuals and civil rights activists who have engaged in the spiritual exercises of critical self-reflection, deconstructtve interpretation or hermeneutics, performative creativity and transformative action, the four components of critical spirituality. Keywords: democracy, leadership, spirituality, reform INTRODUCTION Scholars and practitioners in the field of education are constantly exploring ways to improve schools. Numerous models have been developed, designed to bridge the achievement gaps among students, schools and school districts. Educational leadership has faced similar reform designs. The field of educational leadership has been critiqued through feminist, postmodern, critical, and critical race theoretical positions. Each of these portends a change in how school leadership is conceptualized and practiced. They all require that practicing as well as prospective school leaders contextualize the technical/managerial responsibilities of leadership widun the values, predispositions, and assumptions they individually hold as well as those extrinsically foisted on school leaders that so deeply impact their work. School leaders who are influenced by these progressive theoretical perspectives recognize the dualistic nature of educational leaders' work. They clearly see die technical as well as adaptive challenges (Heifetz, 1994; Heifetz & Linsky, 2002) involved in school leadership. However, these leaders understand diat while the technical challenges of leadership must be embraced, (the nuts and bolts of administration), it is the adaptive ones; those that involve beliefs, values and personal predispositions that substantively impact the effectiveness of their work. The adaptive nature of a leader's work actually operates from one's spiritual center. A person's spirituality is that ethereal part that establishes meaning in one's life. It dares to ask the hard ontological and teleological inquiries that help people to determine who they are and what their contributions to life will be. Spirituality is the instrument in our lives through which we build connectivity and community with others. Spirituality differs from religion in that religion is an institutionalized space where spirituality may be nurtured and celebrated. Religion is often used to codify moral behavior that works in collaboration witii civil authorities to domesticate a society's citizenry. Religion is the formally recognized space where spirituality is legitimately to reside. However, spirituality far transcends me boundaries of institutional religion. Spirituality may certainly be nurtured tiirough the auspices of the religious experience and may be articulated by some through the use of religious language but the ethereal nature of our lives may also be fostered through life's experiences, a relationship with nature, an appreciation for music and the arts, or even die dynamics of family and friendships. It is from one's spirituality that compassion, a sense of equity, understanding and passion toward others as well as the life's work to which one has been "called" emanate. Emmons (1999) defined spirituality as "a search for meaning, for unity, for connectedness, for transcendence, for the highest of human potential" (p. 92). Sergiovanni (1999) used a spiritual context to describe what he called leadership grounded in "purposing." He argued that purposing is a powerful force that focuses on human needs for a sense of what is important and of what is of value. …
TL;DR: This paper explored the potential of museums as sites for critical public pedagogy and foregrounded the role of adult educators as co-interrogators with adult learners of what is generally perceived as politically innocent and neutral knowledge.
Abstract: This chapter explores the potential of museums as sites for critical “public pedagogy.” It foregrounds the role of adult educators as co-interrogators with adult learners of what is generally perceived as politically innocent and neutral knowledge.
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of critique in Habermasian thought is examined and a detailed analysis of the multifaceted concerns with the nature and function of critique is presented.
Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of critique in Habermasian thought. Given that the concept of critique is a central theoretical category in the work of the Frankfurt School, it comes as a surprise that little in the way of a systematic account which sheds light on the multifaceted meanings of the concept of critique in Habermas's oeuvre can be found in the literature. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring the various meanings that Habermas attributes to the concept of critique in 10 key thematic areas of his writings: (1) the public sphere, (2) knowledge, (3) language, (4) morality, (5) ethics, (6) evolution, (7) legitimation, (8) democracy, (9) religion, and (10) modernity. On the basis of a detailed analysis of Habermas's multifaceted concerns with the nature and function of critique, the study seeks to demonstrate that the concept of critique can be considered not only as a constitutive element but also as a normative cornerstone of Habermasian thought. The paper draws ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the findings of a study conducted in two community organizations, one in Bahia (Brazil) and the other in Quebec (Canada), that both espoused the values of emancipatory management.
Abstract: Emancipatory management is a practice based on Habermas’ critical theory characterized by the search for both individual and collective fulfillment. This article presents the findings of a study conducted in two community organizations, one in Bahia (Brazil) the other in Quebec (Canada), that both espoused the values of emancipatory management. We applied a constructivist approach and used Participatory Action Research methodology to analyze how the potentials and the limits of an emancipatory management are influenced by cultural context. Our research revealed that contradictions exist between individual and collective emancipation values and between social discourse and organizational practice. On the one hand, individual autonomy linked to self-interest hindered collective objectives. On the other hand, external social action and discourse aligned with critical ideas of participation, solidarity, and collective well-being were directly opposed to internal practices of inequality, manipulation, and domi...
TL;DR: The authors argue that political realism implicitly supports developmentalist logics of perpetual material growth, which are precisely at the root of global environmental problems and argue that current power relations need to be fundamentally challenged, not only whenever extreme poverty averts the basic exercise of adaptive capacities, but also whenever modernity and globalization set societies on unsustainable paths.
Abstract: Most attempts to formalize climate politics have focused on the reform of current governance regimes, including norms, rules, regulations, political will, and decision-making procedures. Emphasis on reform entails a realist political approach, which only accounts for those incremental changes in power that can be objectively justified in terms of solving practical problems. This paper argues that political realism implicitly supports developmentalist logics of perpetual material growth which are precisely at the root of global environmental problems. Therefore, climate researchers have to move beyond this tradition of political thought, and engage in ‘critical theories’ and idealist approaches that question contemporary power relations. A few scholars have drawn on critical theory, historical materialism, Foucault, and Gramsci to explore power and human emancipation in the context of global environmental politics. These scholars identify hegemonic structures as essential causes of climate change. Accordingly, current power relations need to be fundamentally challenged, not only whenever extreme poverty averts the basic exercise of adaptive capacities, but, more broadly, whenever modernity and globalization set societies on unsustainable paths. This entails, on the one hand, redefining climate change as an opportunity to transform the structures under which modernity and global capitalism take place. On the other hand, it calls for reinterpreting adaptation within a broader project of universal emancipation from the structures that constrain our essential freedom and, with that, hinder effective and just societal responses to the challenges of climate change. WIREs Clim Change 2010 1 781–785 DOI: 10.1002/wcc.87
For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website
Book•
20 May 2010
TL;DR: Schecter et al. as discussed by the authors analysed the critique of instrumental reason from Weber through to the present day, and showed how Weber's ideas were taken up by the theorists of the Frankfurt School in their attempts to formulate a critical theory of society, firstly by Horkheimer and Adorno and then later by Habermas in his The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere.
Abstract: This book analyses the critique of instrumental reason from Weber through to the present day. Weber constitutes the starting point because he represents a key moment of theoretical and political transition. Whereas Enlightenment thinkers such as Kant, Rousseau and Hegel had a profound faith in the power of reason to improve society and mankind, Weber signals that far from being a universally positive and progressive force, the institutionalisation of reason might actually be a highly effective tool in the struggle for domination. Schecter charts how Weber's ideas took shape as a response to the works of Nietzsche and Georg Simmel, and how these ideas were taken up by the theorists of the Frankfurt School in their attempts to formulate a critical theory of society, firstly by Horkheimer and Adorno and then later by Habermas in his The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Schecter further explores how Habermas moves away from a Weberian-Marxist version of social theory towards a more optimistic approach based on a linguistic and systems'-theoretical approach in his Theory of Communicative Action. The book also discusses Heidegger's ontological response to the challenge posed by Weber as well as Walter Benjamin's examination of the contradictions inherent in the attempts to produce a just legal system in the absence of substantive rationality and justice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the possibilities that emerge from using literary fiction as a tool for teaching social theory and critical consciousness, and evaluate the utility of utilizing literary fiction in the social theory classroom.
Abstract: In this paper, I discuss the possibilities that emerge from using literary fiction as a tool for teaching social theory and critical consciousness. Focusing on data from a social theory course I taught in fall 2007, along with my experiences teaching social theory, I evaluate the utility of utilizing literary fiction in the social theory classroom. Serving as a mechanism to encourage the development of critical consciousness, literary fiction can expand classroom dynamics and establish engaged dialogue between students and teachers. In particular, it has the potential to make social theory interesting and meaningful to students who are often anxious about learning social theory.
Book•
13 Jan 2010
TL;DR: Auto-Modernity: Autonomy and Automation after Postmodernity as discussed by the authors, a critique of pure theory and postmodernity, is a good starting point for this paper.
Abstract: Auto-Modernity: Autonomy and Automation after Postmodernity Henry Jenkins: Cultural Studies, New Media and the Ends of the Modern University After Frederic Jameson: A Practical Critique of Pure Theory and Postmodernity The Political without Politics: Slavoj Zizek and the Psychoanalysis of Automodernity On the Psychopathology of the New Right: From Jurassic Park to the Gendered Culture Wars The Automodern University: The Universal Individual and the Backlash Against Social Discourse Grand Theft Automodernity: Globalizing Individualism and Cultural Nihilism from Eminem to The Matrix Postmodern Education and Social Ethics after Automodernity Taking Back the Automodern University: Postmodern Progressive Social Movements and the Academic Class System Beyond The Zizek-Laclau Debate: Coalition Politics and Academic Theory after Obama
TL;DR: In this paper, the formation of citizenship as social practice in a school in El Alto, Bolivia is explored, where the authors examine interactions between "banking" forms of education, students' responses, and embodied practices of belonging and political agency.
Abstract: This article explores the formation of citizenship as social practice in a school in El Alto, Bolivia. I examine interactions between “banking” forms of education, students' responses, and embodied practices of belonging and political agency, and argue that the seemingly passive forms of knowledge transmission so criticized by critical pedagogy need not preclude the development of critical citizenship in young people. [citizenship, El Alto, schooling, political agency, critical pedagogy]