Dialectics of Revolt. Changes of “the Social Movement” Concept in the Political Theory of the Frankfurt School
No.4(2007)
Abstract
Keywords:
Critical Theory; Marxism; political theory; collective action; social movements
The article deals with the political theory of social movements, as formulated by several key thinkers of the Frankfurt School. The mode of their explanation of mobilization, nature, and political potential of social movements is derived from their general theories of society and societal change, associated with the decline of influence of the classic Marxist paradigm of political protest, and presented as an attribute of the increasing importance of culturally oriented collective action analysis in this tradition of political thought. The closing part highlights several crucial joint features of these approaches, thus emphasizing their existence as a distinctive, internally coherent, and analytically inspirational theoretical perspective.
Critical Theory; Marxism; political theory; collective action; social movements