Abstract
The overall intent of this project was to instigate an exploration of the evolution of North American critical theory since the postmodern turn in order to move beyond the confusing array of false binaries that followed in its wake: Marxism/post-Marxism, Marxism/postmodernism, essentialist/post-Marxist, ideology/language, class/subject, Marx/Foucault, Marx/Derrida, to name only a few. As the scholars in this volume demonstrate, one can read both Marx and Foucault for a critique of power, just as one can engage in ideology critique while also recognizing that language is political. False binaries aimed at preserving the boundaries of orthodox schools of thought obscure a rich tradition of engaged scholarship that is dedicated less to adding academic value to the legitimacy of a particular tradition than it is dedicated to uncovering the political potential of critique. These interviews reveal that North American critical theory is not a clearly bound school of thought, nor a concrete identity. Rather, it is a critical political stance influenced not only by Marx and the Frankfurt School, but the entire spectrum of critical thought.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Göran Therborn, From Marxism to Post-Marxism? (London and New York: Verso, 2008), 105.
Ben Agger, The Virtual Self: A Contemporary Sociology (Maldon, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004b): 3.
Also see Ben Agger The Sixties at 40: Leaders and Activists Remember and Look Forward (Boulder and London: Paradigm Publishers, 2009).
See Ben Agger, The Decline of Discourse: Reading, Writing and Resistance in Postmodern Capitalism (New York: Falmer Press, 1990)
Ben Agger, A Critical Theory of Public Life: Knowledge, Discourse, and Politics in an Age of Decline (London: RoutledgeFalmer, 1991b)
Ben Agger, Public Sociology: From Social Facts to Literary Acts, 2nd ed. (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007).
See Ben Agger, Speeding up Fast Capitalism: Culture, Jobs, Families, Schools, Bodies (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2004a).
See Ben Agger, Postponing the Postmodern: Sociological Practices, Selves, and Theories (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2002)
See Ben Agger, Cultural Studies as Critical Theory (London and Washington DC: Falmer Press, 1992b).
See Ben Agger, Body Problems: Running and Living Long in a Fast Food Society (New York: Routledge, 2011).
Douglas Kellner, Critical Theory, Marxism, and Modernity (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989a).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2012 Patricia Mooney Nickel
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nickel, P.M. (2012). Epilogue. In: Nickel, P.M. (eds) North American Critical Theory After Postmodernism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137262868_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137262868_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-35039-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-26286-8
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)