The Crutch Word "Woke" May Be Falling Out of Favor
- Thread starter martin
- Start date
Lightbringer
Loves Me Some Souls
You wish. You people are going to be hit over the fucking head with WOKE forever.
Hmm. Unfortunately few grow up learning how to act with class, particularly Reichwingers who think it is their god-given right to lord it over others, particularly non-white, non-male, no-binary, non-Xtian others.
"Woke" as used by the fascist right is nothing more than a substitute for "liberal," which was turned into a filthy word during the Reagan years. It also substitutes for "PC."
IMO those who dislike the LW definition of "woke" are just assholes who want to be able to use pejoratives for other American citizens without being called out on it.
Trump said that he doesn’t like the term “woke,” claiming that most people “can’t even define it.”
“I don’t like the term ‘woke’ because I hear, ‘Woke, woke, woke.’ It’s just a term they use, half the people can’t even define it, they don’t know what it is,” Trump said at the Westside Conservative Breakfast in Urbandale, Iowa.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4031584-trump-iowa-dislikes-term-woke/amp/
Conservative who wrote a book about "woke" can't even define what it is:
I've been registered here since 2006, and don't recall liberal posters running around yelling Woke in any measurable way. It seems to have been a term that may have started in the black community, but I did not conciously become aware of it until conservatives were trained like monkeys by Fox to run around parroting Fox's take on woke
NiftyNiblick
1960s Chick Magnet
Normally, I find a "Good morning" in this space.
Today, I get assigned asshole status instead.
That's OK, Owl.
I have a good day planned anyway.
No, no. The "Good morning" is on the Nice Thread. This is an asshole thread.
Hope you have a good day, assholes or not.
Monad Portal
Was it me?
it does have a meaning.
It did begin in the black community, and is/was used to mean being aware of the discrepancies between white citizens and black citizens in the realms of justice, law enforcement, etc. The Reichwingers took it up and expanded it to mean anyone who argues against injustice, inequality, bigotry, racism, misogyny, etc. regardless of race -- IOW, your typical LWer.
Monad Portal
Was it me?
yes. it is from the left. it's the practice of hallucinating a racist in every woodpile.
NiftyNiblick
1960s Chick Magnet
No, no. The "Good morning" is on the Nice Thread. This is an asshole thread.
Hope you have a good day, assholes or not.
Right. My mistake.
Perhaps if I were woke, I'd have caught it in time.
We're having an afternoon dinner in the North End with the offspring.
It used to be very easy to get afternoon reservations on Patriots game days.
These days, I would guess, it's a lot easier to get Patriots game tickets.
Monad Portal
Was it me?
oh no, there's a pea in princesses' mattress.
NiftyNiblick
1960s Chick Magnet
As opposed to "pee" in yours, Asshat?
good point
I think MAGAs don't like the definition of woke black people invented, and they deliberately leave it vague as a placeholder word for anything percieved as liberal or politically correct. Vague words are easier to weaponize. In the 1980, conservatives actually hated the dictionary definition of liberal because it actually sounds appealing, so they invented a vague weapinized version of liberal to mean the degenerate, sexually promiscuous, effeminate, and communistic.
That bad, eh?
Even if you're not "woke," there's a slight possibility that you'll get to heaven. Here's a sneak preview of what it's really like. Note the donuts.
Ra-men, exactly so.
Woke was not invented. it was just used to say people should wake up to the fact there is institutional racism. The rightys hate it when they are so obviously in the wrong so they make a bunch of dishonest definitions of "woke" and think we should begin the debate with them. It is diversion. CRT is an educational study of the real and serious problem of minority disadvantage created by institutions, politicians, and corporations.
Monad Portal
Was it me?
that was handled in the fifties and sixties.
now you're just hallucinating things to justify your idiot existence and try to claim moral superiority.
the problem is you're an idiot.
Monad Portal
Was it me?
Critical Theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Critical sociology" redirects here. For the journal, see Critical Sociology (journal).
Not to be confused with Critical thinking.
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A critical theory is any approach to humanities and social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to attempt to reveal, critique, and challenge power structures.[1] With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from social structures and cultural assumptions rather than from individuals.[citation needed] Some hold it to be an ideology,[2] others argue that ideology is the principal obstacle to human liberation.[3] Critical theory finds applications in various fields of study, including psychoanalysis, sociology, history, communication theory, philosophy and feminist theory.[4]
Critical Theory (capitalized) is a school of thought practiced by the Frankfurt School theoreticians Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Erich Fromm, and Max Horkheimer on the one hand, and on the other any philosophical approach that seeks to liberate people from all forms of oppression and actively works to create a world in accordance with human needs (usually called "critical theory", without capitalization). Philosophical approaches within this broader definition include feminism, critical race theory, post-structuralism, queer theory and forms of postcolonialism.[5][6]
Horkheimer described a theory as critical insofar as it seeks "to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them".[7] Although a product of modernism, and although many of the progenitors of Critical Theory were skeptical of postmodernism, Critical Theory is one of the major components of both modern and postmodern thought, and is widely applied in the humanities and social sciences today.[8][9][10]
In addition to its roots in the first-generation Frankfurt School, critical theory has also been influenced by György Lukács and Antonio Gramsci. Additionally, second-generation Frankfurt School scholars have been influential, notably Jürgen Habermas. In Habermas's work, critical theory transcended its theoretical roots in German idealism and progressed closer to American pragmatism. Concern for social "base and superstructure" is one of the remaining Marxist philosophical concepts in much contemporary critical theory.[11]: 5–8
History
Max Horkheimer first defined critical theory (German: Kritische Theorie) in his 1937 essay "Traditional and Critical Theory", as a social theory oriented toward critiquing and changing society as a whole, in contrast to traditional theory oriented only toward understanding or explaining it. Wanting to distinguish critical theory as a radical, emancipatory form of Marxist philosophy, Horkheimer critiqued both the model of science put forward by logical positivism, and what he and his colleagues saw as the covert positivism and authoritarianism of orthodox Marxism and Communism. He described a theory as critical insofar as it seeks "to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them".[12] Critical theory involves a normative dimension, either by criticizing society in terms of some general theory of values or norms (oughts), or by criticizing society in terms of its own espoused values (i.e. immanent critique).[13] Significantly, critical theory not only conceptualizes and critiques societal power structures, but also establishes an empirically grounded model to link society to the human subject.[14] It defends the universalist ambitions of the tradition, but does so within a specific context of social-scientific and historical research.[14]
The core concepts of critical theory are that it should:
be directed at the totality of society in its historical specificity (i.e., how it came to be configured at a specific point in time)
improve understanding of society by integrating all the major social sciences, including geography, economics, sociology, history, political science, anthropology, and psychology
Postmodern critical theory is another major product of critical theory. It analyzes the fragmentation of cultural identities in order to challenge modernist-era constructs such as metanarratives, rationality, and universal truths, while politicizing social problems "by situating them in historical and cultural contexts, to implicate themselves in the process of collecting and analyzing data, and to relativize their findings".[15]
Marx
Marx explicitly developed the notion of critique into the critique of ideology, linking it with the practice of social revolution, as stated in the 11th section of his Theses on Feuerbach: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it."[16] In early works, including The German Ideology, Marx developed his concepts of false consciousness and of ideology as the interests of one section of society masquerading as the interests of society as a whole.
Adorno and Horkheimer
One of the distinguishing characteristics of critical theory, as Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer elaborated in their Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), is an ambivalence about the ultimate source or foundation of social domination, an ambivalence that gave rise to the "pessimism" of the new critical theory about the possibility of human emancipation and freedom.[17] This ambivalence was rooted in the historical circumstances in which the work was originally produced, particularly the rise of Nazism, state capitalism, and culture industry as entirely new forms of social domination that could not be adequately explained in the terms of traditional Marxist sociology.[18][19]
For Adorno and Horkheimer, state intervention in the economy had effectively abolished the traditional tension between Marxism's "relations of production" and "material productive forces" of society. The market (as an "unconscious" mechanism for the distribution of goods) had been replaced by centralized planning.[20]
Contrary to Marx's prediction in the Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, this shift did not lead to "an era of social revolution" but to fascism and totalitarianism. As such, critical theory was left, in Habermas's words, without "anything in reserve to which it might appeal, and when the forces of production enter into a baneful symbiosis with the relations of production that they were supposed to blow wide open, there is no longer any dynamism upon which critique could base its hope".[21] For Adorno and Horkheimer, this posed the problem of how to account for the apparent persistence of domination in the absence of the very contradiction that, according to traditional critical theory, was the source of domination itself.
Habermas
In the 1960s, Habermas, a proponent of critical social theory,[22] raised the epistemological discussion to a new level in his Knowledge and Human Interests (1968), by identifying critical knowledge as based on principles that differentiated it either from the natural sciences or the humanities, through its orientation to self-reflection and emancipation.[23] Although unsatisfied with Adorno and Horkheimer's thought in Dialectic of Enlightenment, Habermas shares the view that, in the form of instrumental rationality, the era of modernity marks a move away from the liberation of enlightenment and toward a new form of enslavement.[11]: 6 In Habermas's work, critical theory transcended its theoretical roots in German idealism, and progressed closer to American pragmatism.
Habermas's ideas about the relationship between modernity and rationalization are in this sense strongly influenced by Max Weber, and has been a Nazi sympathizer and, from 1933, a member of the Nazi Party NSDAP. He further dissolved the elements of critical theory derived from Hegelian German idealism, though his epistemology remains broadly Marxist. Perhaps his two most influential ideas are the concepts of the public sphere and communicative action, the latter arriving partly as a reaction to new post-structural or so-called "postmodern" challenges to the discourse of modernity. Habermas engaged in regular correspondence with Richard Rorty, and a strong sense of philosophical pragmatism may be felt in his thought, which frequently traverses the boundaries between sociology and philosophy.
Modern critical theorists
Contemporary philosophers and researchers who have focused on understanding and critiquing critical theory include Axel Honneth, Judith Butler, and Rahel Jaeggi. Honneth is known for his works Pathology of Reason and The Legacy of Critical Theory, in which he attempts to explain critical theory's purpose in a modern context.[24] Jaeggi focuses on both critical theory's original intent and a more modern understanding that some argue has created a new foundation for modern usage of critical theory.[24] Butler contextualizes critical theory as a way to rhetorically challenge oppression and inequality, specifically concepts of gender.[25]
Honneth established a theory that many use to understand critical theory, the theory of recognition.[26] In this theory, he asserts that in order for someone to be responsible for themselves and their own identity they must be also recognized by those around them: without recognition from peers and society, critical theory could not occur.
Like many others who put stock in critical theory, Jaeggi is vocal about capitalism's cost to society. Throughout her writings, she has remained doubtful about the necessity and use of capitalism in regard to critical theory.[27] Most of Jaeggi's interpretations of critical theory seem to work against the foundations of Habermas and follow more along the lines of Honneth in terms of how to look at the economy through the theory's lens.[28] She shares many of Honneth's beliefs, and many of her works try to defend them against criticism Honneth has received.[29]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Critical sociology" redirects here. For the journal, see Critical Sociology (journal).
Not to be confused with Critical thinking.
Part of a series on
Sociology
HistoryOutlineIndex
Key themes
Perspectives
Branches
Methods
People
Lists
icon Society portal
vte
Part of a series on the
Frankfurt School
Major works
Notable theorists
Important concepts
Related topics
Philosophy portal
icon Society portal
vte
A critical theory is any approach to humanities and social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to attempt to reveal, critique, and challenge power structures.[1] With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from social structures and cultural assumptions rather than from individuals.[citation needed] Some hold it to be an ideology,[2] others argue that ideology is the principal obstacle to human liberation.[3] Critical theory finds applications in various fields of study, including psychoanalysis, sociology, history, communication theory, philosophy and feminist theory.[4]
Critical Theory (capitalized) is a school of thought practiced by the Frankfurt School theoreticians Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Erich Fromm, and Max Horkheimer on the one hand, and on the other any philosophical approach that seeks to liberate people from all forms of oppression and actively works to create a world in accordance with human needs (usually called "critical theory", without capitalization). Philosophical approaches within this broader definition include feminism, critical race theory, post-structuralism, queer theory and forms of postcolonialism.[5][6]
Horkheimer described a theory as critical insofar as it seeks "to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them".[7] Although a product of modernism, and although many of the progenitors of Critical Theory were skeptical of postmodernism, Critical Theory is one of the major components of both modern and postmodern thought, and is widely applied in the humanities and social sciences today.[8][9][10]
In addition to its roots in the first-generation Frankfurt School, critical theory has also been influenced by György Lukács and Antonio Gramsci. Additionally, second-generation Frankfurt School scholars have been influential, notably Jürgen Habermas. In Habermas's work, critical theory transcended its theoretical roots in German idealism and progressed closer to American pragmatism. Concern for social "base and superstructure" is one of the remaining Marxist philosophical concepts in much contemporary critical theory.[11]: 5–8
History
Max Horkheimer first defined critical theory (German: Kritische Theorie) in his 1937 essay "Traditional and Critical Theory", as a social theory oriented toward critiquing and changing society as a whole, in contrast to traditional theory oriented only toward understanding or explaining it. Wanting to distinguish critical theory as a radical, emancipatory form of Marxist philosophy, Horkheimer critiqued both the model of science put forward by logical positivism, and what he and his colleagues saw as the covert positivism and authoritarianism of orthodox Marxism and Communism. He described a theory as critical insofar as it seeks "to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them".[12] Critical theory involves a normative dimension, either by criticizing society in terms of some general theory of values or norms (oughts), or by criticizing society in terms of its own espoused values (i.e. immanent critique).[13] Significantly, critical theory not only conceptualizes and critiques societal power structures, but also establishes an empirically grounded model to link society to the human subject.[14] It defends the universalist ambitions of the tradition, but does so within a specific context of social-scientific and historical research.[14]
The core concepts of critical theory are that it should:
be directed at the totality of society in its historical specificity (i.e., how it came to be configured at a specific point in time)
improve understanding of society by integrating all the major social sciences, including geography, economics, sociology, history, political science, anthropology, and psychology
Postmodern critical theory is another major product of critical theory. It analyzes the fragmentation of cultural identities in order to challenge modernist-era constructs such as metanarratives, rationality, and universal truths, while politicizing social problems "by situating them in historical and cultural contexts, to implicate themselves in the process of collecting and analyzing data, and to relativize their findings".[15]
Marx
Marx explicitly developed the notion of critique into the critique of ideology, linking it with the practice of social revolution, as stated in the 11th section of his Theses on Feuerbach: "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it."[16] In early works, including The German Ideology, Marx developed his concepts of false consciousness and of ideology as the interests of one section of society masquerading as the interests of society as a whole.
Adorno and Horkheimer
One of the distinguishing characteristics of critical theory, as Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer elaborated in their Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), is an ambivalence about the ultimate source or foundation of social domination, an ambivalence that gave rise to the "pessimism" of the new critical theory about the possibility of human emancipation and freedom.[17] This ambivalence was rooted in the historical circumstances in which the work was originally produced, particularly the rise of Nazism, state capitalism, and culture industry as entirely new forms of social domination that could not be adequately explained in the terms of traditional Marxist sociology.[18][19]
For Adorno and Horkheimer, state intervention in the economy had effectively abolished the traditional tension between Marxism's "relations of production" and "material productive forces" of society. The market (as an "unconscious" mechanism for the distribution of goods) had been replaced by centralized planning.[20]
Contrary to Marx's prediction in the Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, this shift did not lead to "an era of social revolution" but to fascism and totalitarianism. As such, critical theory was left, in Habermas's words, without "anything in reserve to which it might appeal, and when the forces of production enter into a baneful symbiosis with the relations of production that they were supposed to blow wide open, there is no longer any dynamism upon which critique could base its hope".[21] For Adorno and Horkheimer, this posed the problem of how to account for the apparent persistence of domination in the absence of the very contradiction that, according to traditional critical theory, was the source of domination itself.
Habermas
In the 1960s, Habermas, a proponent of critical social theory,[22] raised the epistemological discussion to a new level in his Knowledge and Human Interests (1968), by identifying critical knowledge as based on principles that differentiated it either from the natural sciences or the humanities, through its orientation to self-reflection and emancipation.[23] Although unsatisfied with Adorno and Horkheimer's thought in Dialectic of Enlightenment, Habermas shares the view that, in the form of instrumental rationality, the era of modernity marks a move away from the liberation of enlightenment and toward a new form of enslavement.[11]: 6 In Habermas's work, critical theory transcended its theoretical roots in German idealism, and progressed closer to American pragmatism.
Habermas's ideas about the relationship between modernity and rationalization are in this sense strongly influenced by Max Weber, and has been a Nazi sympathizer and, from 1933, a member of the Nazi Party NSDAP. He further dissolved the elements of critical theory derived from Hegelian German idealism, though his epistemology remains broadly Marxist. Perhaps his two most influential ideas are the concepts of the public sphere and communicative action, the latter arriving partly as a reaction to new post-structural or so-called "postmodern" challenges to the discourse of modernity. Habermas engaged in regular correspondence with Richard Rorty, and a strong sense of philosophical pragmatism may be felt in his thought, which frequently traverses the boundaries between sociology and philosophy.
Modern critical theorists
Contemporary philosophers and researchers who have focused on understanding and critiquing critical theory include Axel Honneth, Judith Butler, and Rahel Jaeggi. Honneth is known for his works Pathology of Reason and The Legacy of Critical Theory, in which he attempts to explain critical theory's purpose in a modern context.[24] Jaeggi focuses on both critical theory's original intent and a more modern understanding that some argue has created a new foundation for modern usage of critical theory.[24] Butler contextualizes critical theory as a way to rhetorically challenge oppression and inequality, specifically concepts of gender.[25]
Honneth established a theory that many use to understand critical theory, the theory of recognition.[26] In this theory, he asserts that in order for someone to be responsible for themselves and their own identity they must be also recognized by those around them: without recognition from peers and society, critical theory could not occur.
Like many others who put stock in critical theory, Jaeggi is vocal about capitalism's cost to society. Throughout her writings, she has remained doubtful about the necessity and use of capitalism in regard to critical theory.[27] Most of Jaeggi's interpretations of critical theory seem to work against the foundations of Habermas and follow more along the lines of Honneth in terms of how to look at the economy through the theory's lens.[28] She shares many of Honneth's beliefs, and many of her works try to defend them against criticism Honneth has received.[29]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory