Spatial Form and the Pathologies of Public Reason: Toward a Critical Theory of Space

Abstract

At the heart of critical theory is the examination of forms of consciousness and their relation to the social structures patterned by administrative-capitalist logics. The pathologies that plague mass societies are seen to be expressions of specific forms of life that lead to alienated or reified forms of consciousness that actively distract subjects from a critical confrontation with the constellations of power that constitute their social world. Underlying this research program was a tacit acceptance of a causal relation between the sociostructural domain of human life—of economic logics, of the imperatives of rationalized institutions, and so on—on the one hand and the content of subjective mental states, powers of cognition, experience, and the “lifeworld” on the other. This was at the heart of what we could call the classical paradigm of critical theory where Marxian insights of political economy, in one form or the other, were accepted as a basis from which to theorize the pathologies of consciousness. But this has been gradually displaced by currents in contemporary critical theory which have advocated the thesis that the basis of an emancipatory consciousness and praxis lies hidden within the rhythms of everyday life. Whether this is seen to be the structures of language and communication and everyday speech acts, or the intersubjective and recognitive relations that lead to a critical awareness of social injustices, the dominant approach that has concerned these theorists and their followers has been a pragmatist-inspired critique of Marxist and idealist ideas that predominated the classical paradigm of critical theory.