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Revolutionaries and consultants. The concept of critical theory in 1988 - The paper deals with the present status and significance of critical theory as formulated by the Frankfurt School in the thirties and forties, originally in Germany and later in the USA. The author distinguishes three types of critical theory. The first type includes those theories which are critical of some social agency and demonstrate the constraints of the latter. The second type groups together theories which are critical not only of some substantive theses on social reality but also of the way in which other theories are embedded and committed in their sociopolitical environment. Finally, the third type of critical theory is the one which is able not only to criticize substantive theses and the social involvement of the other theories but also to explain why they have been partially successful and partially wrong. The third type of critical theory would enable its follower not only to indulge in the history of ideas on changing society but also to formulate predictions and participate in actual attempts to introduce a social transformation. The adventures of Marcuse and Habermas with the social movements of the late sixties and the new social movements of the present are a case in point. However, present-day theoretical modesty and an overall sympathy with piecemeal social engineering make it hard to decide whether new theoretical developments which might be classified as ’developing critical theory’ are bound to attract more attention among the young social movements or established institutional advisors and their academic supporters (hence the uncertain position of this new critical theory between ’revolutionaries’ and ’consultants’).
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How to Cite: Magala, S. (1989) “Revolutionairen en consultants: het concept van kritische theorie in 1988”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen. 34(4). doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95026