On the political actuality of Critical Theory: Social sciences between alienation and emancipation

The objective of this text, introductory to the thematic nucleus on the political actuality of Critical Theory, is to establish a referential framework. At first, the text poses the question about the fundamental relationship between politics, criticism and social theory – present already in Max Web...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Bunk, Benjamin, Sobottka, Emil A.
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:Brasil
Recursos:Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)
Repositorio:Civitas - Revista de Ciências Sociais (Porto Alegre. Online)
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br:article/42718
Acesso em linha:https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/civitas/article/view/42718
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Critical Theory
Emancipation
Alienation
Diagnosis of reality
Methodology
Teoría Crítica
Emancipación
Alienación
Diagnóstico de realidad
Metodología
Teoria Crítica
Emancipação
Alienação
Diagnóstico de realidade
Metodologia
Descrição
Resumo:The objective of this text, introductory to the thematic nucleus on the political actuality of Critical Theory, is to establish a referential framework. At first, the text poses the question about the fundamental relationship between politics, criticism and social theory – present already in Max Weber’s time and his argument on the foundation of social sciences alongside the political which has not lost its political actuality. In a second moment, through a historical retrospective, fundamental aspects of the form of criticism of Critical Theory are emphasized. Already Jean-Jacques Rousseau has dealt with the relationship between inequality and emancipation through his analysis of alienation due to social conditions. With Walter Benjamin the experience of politics becomes the point of departure for a critique of the constitutive interconnection between the individual and social conditions. Thus Critical Theory itself turns to be an instrument to make the progressive process of sociation less unequal and less alienating – and the permanent political relevance of this school of thought becomes evident. Lastly we offer a systematization of the various contributions in this dossier (in dialogue between German and Brazilian scientists): asking for the place of politics in social theories; the relevance of politics for different current social theories, notably Post-colonial and Critical Theory; and actual diagnoses from the perspective of Critical Theory.