Critical Theory of Society or Self-Critical Society?
Critical Horizons, 3 (1):
131--158 (April 2002)DOI: 10.1163/156851602760226814
Abstract
This paper presents a critical comparative reading of Ulrich Beck and Herbert Marcuse. Beck''s thesis on ''selfcritical society'' and the concept of ''sub-politics'' are evaluated within the framework of Marcusian critical theory. We argue for the continued relevance of Marcuse for the project of emancipatory politics. We recognise that a focus upon the imminent and spontaneous possibilities for radical social change within the ''sub-political'' is a useful provocation to the high abstractionism of much critical theory, but suggest that such possibilities are better captured in a Marcusian theoretical frame than they are in Beck''s account.