Against orthodoxy: social theory and its discontents

Description

Essays on major figures in 20th century social theory from a radical, critical perspective";In Against Orthodoxy, the author engages some of the most provocative thinkers of the 20th century, including Georg Lukacs, Antonio Gramsci, Herbert Marcuse, Karl Marx, Harry Braverman and Paulo Freire. All of these social and political theorists were dedicated to fundamental social change, but many were forced to recognize the difficulty of achieving change in the modern world. This book demonstrates that all of them reject conventional interpretations of how radical change might be possible. What marks their unity is an effort to address capitalism's ability to incorporate widespread popular alienation. Consequently they urge serious attention by radicals to issues of culture, subjectivity, and education" 1. The Unknown Herbert Marcuse 2. Between Criticism and Ethnography: Raymond Williams and the Invention of Cultural Studies 3. A Critique of Methodological Reason 4. George Lukacs's Destruction of Reason 5. Henri Lefebvre: The ignored Philosopher and Social Theorist 6. Gramsci's Theory of Political Organization 7. Max Horkheimer's Critical Theory 8. Paulo Freire's Radical Democratic Humanism 9. Herbert Marcuse's Concept of Eros 10. Marx, Braverman and the Logic of Capital