Search results for "Critical theory"
showing 10 items of 37 documents
Discourse analysis as immanent critique: Possibilities and limits of normative critique in empirical discourse studies
2016
Although discourse analysts often conceive of their work as critical, there is little theoretical discussion regarding the possibility of normative critique in the scientific community of discourse analysis. Rarely are the normative grounds and normative scope of such a critique clear. Thus, this article attempts to find theoretically robust and practical answers to the following question: ‘How is a normative critique possible?’ In seeking my answer, I first provide a short overview of the possibilities of normative critique in critical discourse analysis. Second, I offer an argument in favour of immanent critique while explaining both its advantages and its theoretical and practical probl…
Odyssey Towards a Sirenic Thinking: An Attempt at a Self-Criticism of the Listening Paradigm Within Sound Studies
2021
Abstract This text departs from a contradictory claim in deaf studies and sound studies: both disciplines describe a hierarchical regime of the sensible – visuocentrism and audiocentrism – which they try to counter with conceptualisations as “acoustemology” or “deaf gain.” However, as we argue, they both thereby erect what they claim to overcome: a sensual regime that privileges one sense over another and a restricted conception of subjectivity deriving from it. First, we draw a philosophical line in the critique of sensual regimes. Then we propose a figure for the transcendence of the separation of the sensible: in re-reading of the myth of Odysseus and the sirens, we engage various exampl…
Heterogeneous knowledge: Trends in German discourse analysis against an international background
2011
This contribution maps the complex field of discourse analysis in Germany by situating its major currents and putting them in historical perspective. In a first step, it presents the major intellectual sources, such as (post-)structuralism, pragmatism/interactionism as well as hermeneutics, which have served as a backdrop for the establishment of discourse analysis as an interdisciplinary field since the 1980s. In a second step, it takes a closer look at the intellectual conjunctures in the social sciences such as Critical Theory and systems theory before turning to the discourse analytical tendencies that have emerged since the 1980s in the light of Foucault's reception in Germany. Finally…
Smash and Laugh: A philosophical analysis on the relationship between humour and violence
2019
This article focuses on the relationship between humour and violence from a philosophical perspective. It is necessary to analyze different forms of violence and humour to understand in which ways ...
Days of the Cavemen? : Adorno, Spengler, and the Anatomy of Caesarism
2021
Abstract This article addresses the controversial question of Theodor W. Adorno’s debt to right-wing Zivilisationskritik by a close reading of his essay “Spengler after the Decline” (1950). The article shows that despite Adorno’s harsh polemics against Oswald Spengler’s Decline of the West (1918, 1922), he sought to make Spengler’s analysis of Weimar Germany’s undemocratic tendencies—“Caesarism”—serve progressive ends. However, Adorno’s essay was not just an effort at “coming to terms with the past” in Adenauerian West Germany. Reading the essay’s original 1941 version together with Adorno’s correspondence with Max Horkheimer sheds light on Spengler as an overlooked key (next to Max Weber, …
Symmetry and equality: Bringing Rancière into the classroom
2018
Jacques Rancière’s sophisticated critique of critical theory is the first step in his call for a renewal of a theory of emancipation. In the first part of the article, the authors outline this critique. Rancière combines pedagogy, art and policy in his attempt to develop a new understanding of equality and emancipation. The authors try as conscientiously as possible to present this argument in the second part of the article. Social and cultural inequalities are increasing in Western societies and have become inconspicuous in schools, and it is against this backdrop that a theory of equality and emancipation is important in regard to early childhood. How can equality be unfolded and interpre…
Education and the Demand for Emancipation
2014
This paper puts forward the hypothesis that in recent decades, pupils of schools in the western world have been given a new form of individuality. This construction has been nourished by both the demand for emancipation as it was expressed in the critical sociology of education (and pedagogy) and by the neoliberal turn in education policy. It unfolds consequences of such an alliance between romantic and neoliberal individualism, and argues that some of Simmel's concepts might fruitfully be engaged to grasp important aspects of today's educational culture. Against this backdrop, the paper discusses the construction of the new individuality in regard to educational changes in control and disc…
Huomioita aikamme traagisuudesta
2018
Kaikkien kanonisoitujen filosofioiden taustalla vaikuttaa ajattelijoiden ainutlaatuinen näkemys niin maailmasta ja ihmisestä kuin näiden välisestä suhteesta. Argumenttien lisäksi, ja monesti niiden sijaan, meitä puhuttelevat juuri näkemykset, jotka vetoavat omiin kokemuksiimme ja näkemyksiimme ihmisinä. Tästä syystä erilaisten kriisien värittäminä aikakausina esiin nousevat usein kirjoittajat, joiden näkemystä voidaan kutsua traagiseksi. nonPeerReviewed
Socio-critical research on teaching physical education and physical education teacher education
2017
The purpose of this study is to systematically review the socio-critical research on teaching physical education (PE) and PE teacher education (PETE) between 1999 and 2014. The procedure followed a four-phase approach: (a) searching publications through four international databases; (b) meeting inclusion criteria; (c) refining selection to identify specifically research-based papers; and (d) expert searching based on the research team’s knowledge. The selection process yielded 23 articles mainly from Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Spain. Most of the research was authored collaboratively by male and female authors affiliated to universities. A lack of authorship shared with participant …
Critical Theory Applied to Media Literacy
2019
Traditionally, one of the fundamental objectives of media literacy (ML) has been the development of the ability to exercise critical thinking about the media, unmask their “naturalness,” and bring to surface their ideologies and values. However, when we move from the abstract level of critical theory to the messy and complex practices enacted in educational contexts, this broad political goal, along with its claim about the “liberating” and “empowering” effect of the critical mind, is flawed with limitations and contradictions. Although the need remains—and is as urgent and vital as ever—to develop critical skills and attitudes, it is also necessary to graft critical theory onto the learnin…