On the political actuality of Critical Theory

Social sciences between alienation and emancipation

Abstract

The objective of this text, introductory to the thematic nucleus on the political actuality of Critical Theory, is to establish a referential framework. At first, the text poses the question about the fundamental relationship between politics, criticism and social theory – present already in Max Weber’s time and his argument on the foundation of social sciences alongside the political which has not lost its political actuality. In a second moment, through a historical retrospective, fundamental aspects of the form of criticism of Critical Theory are emphasized. Already Jean-Jacques Rousseau has dealt with the relationship between inequality and emancipation through his analysis of alienation due to social conditions. With Walter Benjamin the experience of politics becomes the point of departure for a critique of the constitutive interconnection between the individual and social conditions. Thus Critical Theory itself turns to be an instrument to make the progressive process of sociation less unequal and less alienating – and the permanent political relevance of this school of thought becomes evident. Lastly we offer a systematization of the various contributions in this dossier (in dialogue between German and Brazilian scientists): asking for the place of politics in social theories; the relevance of politics for different current social theories, notably Post-colonial and Critical Theory; and actual diagnoses from the perspective of Critical Theory.