Being critical?
The term 'critical' as currently used to prefix various
disciplines (including community psychology!) has
multiple origins, but perhaps the most significant one is
from its use in 'critical theory'. This itself refers to
several things - in some contexts it was used as code for
Marxism, or rather for historical materialist analysis. It
became best known in referring to the Frankfurt School
of Marxist intellectuals concerned with questions of
culture and its relation to society - e.g. Adorno,
Horkheimer, Fromm, Habermas. What is being meant
by the term 'critical' is an approach that tries to
understand a social reality through introduction of
another, more penetrating frame of reference, one that
has to do with a general theory of human society (or at
least late capitalist society) understood in terms of
contradictions between different social interests and
economic processes of exploitation, capital
accumulation, and so on. So these critical theorists
apply a powerful set of practical-theoretical tools to
social phenomena to try and get a more thorough
understanding that can help foment progressive social
change. Not very post-modern, and there are some
rules implied.
Another use of 'critical', however, seems to come from
the lay notion of the 'critic'. At its worst (and most post-
modern) that can mean 'say what you like', and 'pose
around as the most critical voice of all'. There is no
method, just individual opinion. The process is
destructive not constructive. It is part of the 'society of
the spectacle', of consumerism, of capitalism itself.
Here I've set up two ideal types, with a clear bias as to
the one that I'm more comfortable with, and why. The
idea is to use the two models to evaluate contributions
that march under the critical banner.
So if you want to convince me that you are being critical
in the best sense, I'll be asking
"Is your analysis one that requires stepping outside the
hegemonic frame of reference of this society and its
dominant psychology?"
"Where is your argument taking us and in whose
interests are you doing it in?"
"What's the action - and what's your action?"
and
"Are you doing this in a comradely way?"
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