Critical theory

About: Critical theory is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5372 publications have been published within this topic receiving 164765 citations.

Animals in Schools: Processes and Strategies in Human-Animal Education

Abstract: "Animals in Schools" explores important questions in the field of critical animal studies and education by close examination of a wide range of educational situations and classroom activities. How are human-animal relations expressed and discussed in school? How do teachers and students develop strategies to handle ethical conflicts arising from the ascribed position of animals as accessible to human control, use, and killing? How do schools deal with topics such as zoos, hunting, and meat consumption? These are questions that have profound implications for education and society. They are graphically described, discussed and rendered problematic based on detailed ethnographic research and are analyzed by means of a synthesis of perspectives from critical theory, gender and postcolonial thought. "Animals in Schools" makes human-animal relations a crucial issue for pedagogical theory and practice. In the various physical and social dimensions of the school environment, a diversity of social representations of animals are produced and reproduced. These representations tell stories about human-animal boundaries and identities and bring to the fore a complex of questions about domination and subordination, normativity and deviance, rationality and empathy as well as possibilities of resistance and change.

The Cambridge companion to critical theory

Abstract: Introduction Fred Rush 1. Conceptual foundations of early Critical Theory Fred Rush 2. Benjamin, Adorno, and the decline of the aura Michael Rosen 3. The dialectic of enlightenment Julian Roberts 4. The marriage of Marx and Freud: Critical Theory and psychoanalysis Joel Whitebook 5. Dialectics and the revolutionary impulse Raymond Geuss 6. 'The dead speaking of stones and stars': an introduction to Adorno's Aesthetic Theory J. M. Bernstein 7. Critique, state, and economy Moishe Postone 8. The transcendental turn: Habermas's 'Kantian pragmatism' Kenneth Baynes 9. The politics of Critical Theory Simone Chambers 10. Critical Theory and the analysis of contemporary mass society Hauke Brunkhorst 11. Critical Theory and poststructuralism: Habermas and Foucault Beatrice Hanssen 12. The very idea of critical social science Stephen White 13. A social pathology of reason: on the intellectual legacy of Critical Theory Axel Honneth.

Critical Theory in Political Practice

Abstract: In the social sciences and humanities it is fashionable to use the language of a critical theory of society While orthodoxy in these disciplines has often meant a commitment to the advancement of objective knowledge, to understanding the world "as it really is," critical theory has usually involved attempts to reveal the philosophical incoherence and political perniciousness of that commitment The social disciplines, according to advocates of critical theory, must play a role in changing the world so as to help emancipate those on the margins of society by providing them with insights and intellectual tools In a provocative study of critical social theory, Stephen Leonard takes these emancipatory goals as standards against which critical theory must be judged Leonard shows how such goals are established but not met by those thinkers usually associated with the idea of a critical theory--such as Marx, the members of the Frankfurt School, Habermas, and Foucault Drawing on examples of "critical theory in practice," he shows how dependency theory, Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy, liberation theology, and feminist theory contribute to a clearer understanding of how social and political emancipation can be pursued in ways that are philosophically rigorous and theoretically sound

Critical Theory: The Key Concepts

Abstract: Critical Theory: The Key Concepts introduces over 300 widely-used terms, categories and ideas drawing upon well-established approaches like new historicism, postmodernism, psychoanalysis, Marxism, and narratology as well as many new critical theories of the last twenty years such as Actor-Network Theory, Global Studies, Critical Race Theory, and Speculative Realism. This book explains the key concepts at the heart of a wide range of influential theorists from Agamben to Žižek. Entries range from concise definitions to longer more explanatory essays and include terms such as: Aesthetics Desire Dissensus Dromocracy Hegemony Ideology Intersectionality Late Capitalism Performativity Race Suture Featuring cross-referencing throughout, a substantial bibliography and index, Critical Theory: The Key Concepts is an accessible and easy-to-use guide. This book is an invaluable introduction covering a wide range of subjects for anyone who is studying or has an interest in critical theory (past and present).

Writing the environment : ecocriticism and literature

Abstract: The contemporary environmental crisis asks fundamental questions about culture. This first book draws together the rich variety of environmentalist positions, from ecofeminism to deep ecology, and theorizes their contribution to critical theory, literature and popular culture. The first part of the book examines theoretical controversies in environmentalist literary criticism. Contributors explore a wide variety of issues including sexual politics and nature, the link between environmental and cultural degradation, the influence of Heidegger on environmentalism, and the degree of continuity between post-structuralist theory and ecological perspectives. Part two presents a green rereading of literary history, including chapters on the manipulation of natural phenomena as a vehicle of social control, "nature poetry" as political intervention, and erotic fiction as an expression of the colonialist's conception of "jungle country" and Otherness in general. The book concludes by looking at contemporary culture: from poetry to children's books, including an analysis of television nature programmes.