New Critical Theory: Essays on Liberation

In this collection, Wilkerson and Paris have brought together seasoned veterans of critical theory such as Douglas Kellner, Andrew Feenberg, and James L. Marsh with a new generation of critical theorists including Patricia Huntington, Eduardo Mendieta, Bill Martin, and Cynthia Willett. Although there is no single perspective that unites the authors across topics ranging as widely as the Chiapas Rebellion, queer theory, African-Amercian notions of ‘subjectivity,’ and Marcuse’s early debts to Heidegger, what they share in common is the attempt to renew the critical, radical edge of what we might think of as a ‘critical theory industry’ dominated by Habermasians. A new, post-Habermasian critical theory finds greater inspiration in the radicalism of HerbertMarcuse than in the critical-theoretic rapprochement with liberalism that has characterized its mainstream development in the United States over the past couple of decades. Anyone interested in answering the question Nancy Fraser once asked, ‘What’s Critical About Critical Theory?,’ will be informed and challenged by this volume. The critical theory that appears here is especially noteworthy for its willingness to learn from and engage in constructive dialogues with postmodernism, feminism, postcolonial t — Thomas Jeannot, Gonzaga University

An important, philosophically sophisticated book that ought to be read by anyone who has felt the pull of philosophical dissonance. It is a book that ought to be read by all those who are intellectually accustomed to reading the works of those who continue to testify against continuing injustice. It is also a book that demands to be read by all of those frustrated by the futile in-fighting that has dogged Critical theory for several decades. This book has the potential for cunstructing new bridges both between the various clans that comprise Critical theory and across to other intellectual traditions that have been unduly neglected by an overly canonical reading of Critical theory. — Andrew Fagan, University of Essex

New Critical Theory is an important, philosophically sophisticated book that ought to be read by anyone who has felt the pull of philosophical dissonance. It is a book that ought to be read by all those who are intellectually accustomed to reading the works of those who continue to testify against continuing injustice. It is also a book that demands to be read by all of those frustrated by the futile in-fighting that has dogged Critical theory for several decades. This book has the potential for constructing new bridges both between the various clans that comprise Critical theory and across to other intellectual traditions that have been unduly neglected by and overly canonical reading of Critical theory. ― Philosophy in Review

One is unlikely to encounter an anthology on recent applications of critical theory that is as thorough in its coverage as this one. The editors have done a terrific job assembling an all-star cast of scholars; the writing is impassioned and the territory covered―from philosophical foundations and postmodern challenges to globalization, technology, post-colonialism, race, gender, and sexual orientation―is fresh and exciting. — David Ingram, Loyola University, Chicago

In this collection, Wilkerson and Paris have brought together seasoned veterans of critical theory such as Douglas Kellner, Andrew Feenberg, and James L. Marsh with a new generation of critical theorists including Patricia Huntington, Eduardo Mendieta, Bill Martin, and Cynthia Willett. Although there is no single perspective that unites the authors across topics ranging as widely as the Chiapas Rebellion, queer theory, African-Amercian notions of ‘subjectivity,’ and Marcuse’s early debts to Heidegger, what they share in common is the attempt to renew the critical, radical edge of what we might think of as a ‘critical theory industry’ dominated by Habermasians. A new, post-Habermasian critical theory finds greater inspiration in the radicalism of Herbert Marcuse than in the critical-theoretic rapprochement with liberalism that has characterized its mainstream development in the United States over the past couple of decades. Anyone interested in answering the question Nancy Fraser once asked, ‘What’s Critical About Critical Theory?,’ will be informed and challenged by this volume. The critical theory that appears here is especially noteworthy for its willingness to learn from and engage in constructive dialogues with postmodernism, feminism, postcolonial theory, and multiculturalism, moving its readers beyond the increasingly sterile debates that dominate the ivory tower, to the concrete, world-historical struggles for liberation on which the soul, the vitality, and ultimately the future of critical theory depends. — Thomas Jeannot, Gonzaga University