Critical theory appears unpopular probably because of its ideological bias as claimed by Pease, Form and Rytina (1970). Liebert and Imershein (1977) similarly assert that a common theoretical tendency in community research is a distinctly “political theme that tends to find the greatest efficacy and power, and indeed the most universal structure of power, to lie in a certain organized diversity, a pluralist state of subsystems within an integrated system of elites” (pp. 191-192).
The primary aim of critical theory, as James Bohman (2005) notes, is to thwart oppression. This theory was not only used by incorporating the best tools but more importantly, to critique what is happening within the research context. Since the community studied is Bautista, a resettlement area and which has an existing power structure, a critical analysis and decisional approach were adapted using the case study design to examine the locale.
Critical theory questions the structures and it assumes that science is objective and “value-free”. Its goal is the emancipation of people from domination (Quebral, 1992 as cited in Drilon, 1998).
Critical theorists such as Karl Marx and Jürgen Habermas are critics of unequal social conditions specifically groups that are excluded from power or from free access to information. Thus, critical theorists do more than observe, interpret or describe; they criticize. Looking through the power structure research lens, this theory helped the researcher by asking who benefits from the unequal distribution of power and who are they taking advantage of by focusing on the community issue.
In communication, critical scholars have focused on the role of communication in society and on the control of communication...
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...cal dimension” of his work (Dreyfus & Rabinow, 1982, p. 114). He claims that power and knowledge are not external to each other, but that they operate in a mutually generative fashion, as “nothing can exist as an element of knowledge if [...] it does not possess the effects of coercion” and as “nothing can function as a mechanism of power if it is not deployed according to procedures, instruments, means, and objectives which can be validated in more or less coherent systems of knowledge” (Foucault, 1997, p. 52). Thus, rather than to study knowledge and power separately, is “the nexus of knowledge power” that needs to be described in order to grasp the acceptability of the knowledge power system (p. 53). One needs to analyze the connections between power and knowledge to find out why a certain “regime of truth” has become acceptable at a given historical moment.
Part 1. 2009. The 'Secondary' of the Print. The. Landstreet, Peter. A. The “Power and Power Relations Lecture”.
establishes some valid points concerning power. He posits that power is something of a self-
The critical case study to the novel establishes a definition of a type of critical response, and then gives as close an example that fits that mode of criticism—BORING! First, the book has these forms of criticism laid out contiguously, as if they occurred only spatially and not temporally. This flattened and skewed representation of critical approaches, taking an argument out of its context (an academic debate) and uses it as if it were a pedagogical tool. Just as criticism in many ways takes the life out of the text, by dissecting it and making it a part of an argument, the “model critical approach” takes the life out of criticism.
In this essay I shall make a critical comparison of different theories and approaches of community organising. By focusing on main aspects of Paulo Freire and Saul Alinsky’s models of community organising I shall discuss how applicable these models are in the UK. By drawing examples from experiences of applying Root Solution Listening Matters (RSLM) and Participatory Action Research (PAR) frameworks in my practice. I shall demonstrate relationships and differences between the two. By addressing key elements of theories of power and conflict I shall highlight the main characteristics of both and use these theories as lenses to view some problems in the communities. By comparing models of community enterprise I shall reflect on future opportunities of a budding community enterprise. Finally by outlining the methods of evaluation I shall reflect on my chosen framework for evaluation of my work.
In social science, there are several paradigms, each with its own unique ontological and epistemological perspective. Examples of paradigms include positivism which focuses on objectivity, know ability, and deductive logic. Its assumption is that society can and should be studied empirically and scientifically (Ritzer, 2004). Critical paradigm’s main emphasis is on power, inequality, and social change. It is of the assumption that social science can never be truly value-free and should be conducted with the express goal of social change in mind (Calhoun, 2007). Social constructionism paradigm’ s main emphasis is that truth as varying, socially constructed, and ever-changing and is of the assumption that reality is created collectively and that social context and interaction frame our realities (Berger, 1966).
Massey et al. states, “To put it crudely, parents of upper-class children have no interest in devoting resources to the education of lower-class children, so that poor and working-class students end up going to lousy schools to receive a lousy education to prepare them for the lousy jobs they will hold as adults.” (Massey et al., 20). This example shows in a simple manner how critical theory functions to generate socioeconomic inequality because the lousy schools that poor and working-class students have to attend are the result of not enough resources going into the educations of lower-class children. Massey et al. shows that the structure of dominance is generating a system that disadvantages historically underrepresented students. Furthermore, hooks writes, “That shift from beloved, all-black schools to white schools where black students were always seen as interlopers, as not really belonging, taught me the difference between education as the practice of freedom and education that merely strives to reinforce domination.” (hooks, 3). hooks was disadvantaged because she was not accustomed to the segregated school as the white students were. Critical Theory states that inequality is reproduced by specific institutional arrangements, such as the arrangements that hooks dealt with. In addition to the experiences in higher education due to the structure of dominance, hooks
Various theorists under the umbrella of critical social theory believe that all subordinate groups are oppressed on personal, cultural and institutional levels by visible and invisible structures as well as by conscious and unconscious means. (Mullaly, 2010 ).
Pierre Bourdieu was a highly influential theorist. He provides a unique and fascinating definition or understanding of power as well as an explanation and analysis into how power works. This work serves to outline what is this specific concept of power means and contains, how it is created, what are the various forms it takes on and in general, how power works.
Michel Foucault argues a number of points in relation to power and offers definitions ...
Society is highly stratified when considering social classes i.e. - upper class, middle class, lower class, and working class citizens. That being said, not everyone has the same access to the superstructure; thus creating tension. The largest problem when considering structure and agency is the constant struggle and negotiation of power inequality. Among the asymmetry of power are two major disparities; class and gender. Thinking as a critical theorist, one must consider the individual’s participation in the public sphere; “The word means a false view of the world that is in the interests of the powerful citizens in order to keep the subordinate classes oppressed” (Habermas, 10). Though the public sphere is virtually a democratic sphere where ideas can circulate and opinions are formed there are certain restrictions when referring to lower classes and women and thus how their agencies as individuals are limited.
Asking the question of who has the right to define the critical literacy is a key to demonstrate the critical literacy itself. It is one of the first obligation...
Similar to interpretivist researchers, critical researchers recognize that research is not value free, but they go further in that the goal of the research is to actively challenge interpretations and values in order to bring about change (Vine, 2009). The paradigm of critical research originated from the critical theory; credits of this model are George Hegel (eighteenth century) and Karl Marx (nineteenth century). This research theory seeks to contradict the preceding theories and models regarding society. Transformative researchers felt that the interpretivist/constructivist approach to research did not adequately address issues of social justice and marginalized people (Creswell, 2003, p.9). Researchers, who use this approach, analyze previous theoretical claims, questioning preceding findings and conclusions.
Axel Honneth: The Critique of Power: Reflective Stages of Critical Social Theory (M.I.T: Boston, 1991).
Some theorists view social interactions as an exchange of objective and subjective power (Benford & Hunt, 1992, p. 3), with social movements being created for the purpose of restructuring an imbalance in social, political, and economic power, or the way in which such power is used (Lukes 1974, pp. 24-5). The dramaturgy theory agrees that the focus of a social movement is the amendment or transformation of power relations, and goes even farther by suggesting that leaders of said movements are responsible for developing new and alternate possibilities for current power relations, and must persuade members that they are capable of generating change (Benford & Hunt, 1992, pp. 3-6). Thus, the effectiveness, quality, and sustainability of
Parker, Robert Dale. Critical Theory: A Reader for Literary and Cultural Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012 . Print.