Critical Theory and the Crisis of Social Theory

In this article I argue that the critical theory developed by the so-called Frankfurt School provides both a model for radical social theory and important perspectives on contemporary society. I provide some historical background on the origins of critical theory and then explicate the method and project through a close reading of key methodological texts by Horkheimer. I then examine the substantive contributions to contemporary social theory in the critical theory tradition and argue that they constituted the cutting edge of radical social theory from the 1940s through the 1960s. Yet critical theory failed to develop as social theory thereafter, focusing instead on philosophy and cultural critique. It has been postmodern theory which has attempted to articulate the current trends and new social conditions in contemporary society. Consequently, if critical theory is to once again become the avant-garde of social theory, it must be reconstructed in the present age in the light of the postmodern critique and theory. I conclude by indicating some reasons why I believe that a reconstructed critical theory can indeed restore the tradition to the forefront of contemporary social theory and thus call for a revitalization of the tradition.