Critical Social Theories: An Introduction

by Ben Agger

This text, written expressly for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students in sociology, political science, English, and humanities courses provides a cogent and accessible explanation of critical social theory. Ben Agger introduces students to the Frankfurt School, postmodernism, theories of multiculturalism and difference, feminist theory, and cultural studies. Arguing for an integration of these theories, Critical Social Theories is a useful supplement to social theory texts. Throughout the book, Agger considers implications of critical social theory, making the book highly relevant to mainstream sociologists seeking theoretical guidance.

Genres: Theory, Sociology, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 1997

Reviews

[Matthew Sun]

picked this up randomly at a library's used book sale section - ended up quite enjoying it for the (relatively) accessible introduction to the philosophies / historical context of various critical social theorists! now I know what the Frankfurt School is, the broad outlines of Habermas's communication theory, what postmodernism actually means, etc. would love to see what the 2022 version of this would look like - that said, even though this was published in 1998, so many of the methodological debates in the book still felt like they ring true today!

Two notes: 1) I'm a layperson when it comes to sociology - folks with more expertise may not react the same way 2) the author is fairly upfront about his own theoretical perspective (preferring queer theory / bisexual feminist approaches to radical feminist separatism, for example) - I appreciated this, but others may find it overly didactic

[Jordan Elang]

Butuh pemahaman filosofis, kultural serta teoretis untuk memahami buku ini. Saya sendiri sempat kewalahan dan mendapat banyak kesulitan dalam memahami dan mengelaborasi tiap-tiap bab nya. Seperti Mazhab Frankfurt, Neo-Marxist, Dekonstruksi lalu posmodern dan teori kritis itu sendiri.
Apalagi dengan pemilihan diksi yang juga ikut mempersulit. Tetapi, asalkan dibaca dengan penuh ketelatenan dan research pada wacana-wacana yang kita kurang pahami, hal ini bisa teratasi.
Poin nya adalah, Ben Agger, menuliskan penerapan dan implikasi dari teori sosial kritis itu sendiri.

Lalu, untuk buku yang keluar pada tahun 90'an akhir ini, penting sekali untuk terus mencari formulasi yang lebih tepat pada tataran aksiologis dari teori sosial kritis.