Normative research and critical theory Critical theory as opposed to classical theory Critical theory and the media

ia The weaknesses of critical theory

Normative research research based upon theories and norms commonly acceptable propositions or arguments Classical theory (Aristotle, Plato, Arendt)

based upon ideal forms

Concerned with reasoning in order to find

truth

Critical theory
Distinguished from classical theory by Horkheimer in

Traditional and Critical Theory (1937) Philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point is to change it Marx Theses on Feuerbach (1845)

Must be a theory of change The change must be for the good of all humanity It must provide the tools for change
It must locate the source of domination in actual social

practices; it must project an alternative vision of a life free from such domination; and it must craft these tasks in the idiom of its addressees (Leonard, 1990 p.4).

We have a number of public problems we are ill equipped to deal with

Population growth High cost of living Environmental crises See:

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.p hp/GFN/page/calculators Increase in depression Lack of good music

Highly critical of both Capitalist and Communist systems of government:

While they widely criticised the repressive dangers of the

They believed that in both Capitalist and Communist countries, the mass media was being used to keep the people serving either the interests of the government (in Communism) or the wealthy (in Capitalism) It was critical of the development of mass culture in general

centralised power of communist states (such as the USSR) They were also critical of the way the capitalist system developed similar forms of control through creating a society full of consumers

Suggested that seemingly rational systems had developed to the point of irrationality in The Dialectic of Enlightenment (1945) What we had set out to do was nothing less than to explain why humanity, instead of entering a truly human state, is sinking into a new kind of barbarism. (preface, 1945 edition) Control over the means of (cultural) production translates to control over society The shift into an industrial (large scale, large audiences) mode of cultural production ensured that cultural production was standardised, manufactured and hegemonic working for those in power. They described the media as such a system (The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception, 1944) [the cost of media access] guarantees that power will remain in the same hands not unlike those economic decisions by which the establishment and running of undertakings is controlled in a totalitarian state (Horkheimer & Adorno 1944) H&A assume that media control translates directly to social control (this is the hypodermic or magic bullet theory of media effects).

Marcuse furthers H&As argument that a culture of media consumption gives us the illusion of a false egalitarianism and a level social playing field while hiding the gross inequalities in economic and cultural power Moreover, the relationship of power (only one officially sanctioned form of reason) propagates a society of conformity That marginalises alternative/dissenting lifestyles; Places greater priority on performance (efficiency) than pleasure (Eros and Civilisation, 1955);
Normalises an economic system based upon the creation of false needs (One Dimensional Man, 1964)
AND

Habermas suggests those in control of money and power have undue influence over our discourses, thanks to their control over media. They can thus effect what we think of when we think of success or beauty (for instance) he describes this process as the systemic colonisation of the lifeworld (1985). This is an immersion model of media effects, rather than a magic bullet model a model of agenda setting rather than direct effect Habermas suggests that other members of the Frankfurt School were nave to think that pointing out the inequity of media control was enough to generate change. He tried to establish a communicative ethics (ideal speech) to universalise the tools for change.

Psychoanalytic Theory Erich Fromm, Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari Literary/Cultural Criticism - Noam Chomsky, George Monbiot, Frederick Jameson Feminist/Gender Theory Naomi Wolf, Donna Harraway Structuralism/Poststructuralism Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler Communication Theory Mark Poster, Douglas Kellner, James Der Derian

Historically critical theory has relied upon raising consciousness to promote change Horkheimer and Adorno relied upon changing the research traditions of intellectuals Marcuse thought he could encourage students and minority groups to create a revolution Habermas relies on a model of ideal speech (invitational rhetoric) which, once again, requires significant effort If the Frankfurt School is right about media and culture, the loss of a critical and self aware public is also the loss of the agent of change

1940s and 1950s a strong sense of normality The most intimate reactions of human beings have been so thoroughly reified that the idea of anything specific to themselves now persists only as an utterly abstract notion: personality scarcely signifies anything more than shining white teeth and freedom from body odour and emotions. The triumph of advertising in the culture industry is that consumers feel compelled to buy and use its products even though they see through them. Horkheimer and Adorno (1945) The Beatles were lambasted for their long hair and outrageous lyrics

We want structures that serve people, not people serving structures.

1960s Cultural Revolution? A comfortable, smooth, reasonable, democratic unfreedom prevails in advanced industrial civilization, a token of technical progress. Indeed, what could be more rational than the suppression of individuality in the mechanization of socially necessary but painful performances; the concentration of individual enterprises in more effective, more productive corporations If the worker and his boss enjoy the same television program and visit the same resort places. if the typist is as attractively made up as the daughter of her employer, if the Negro owns a Cadillac, if they all read the same newspaper, then this assimilation indicates not the disappearance of classes, but the extent to which the needs and satisfactions that serve the preservation of the Establishment are shared by the underlying population. Herbert Marcuse (1964)

Since 1936 I have fought for wage increases. My father before me fought for wage increases. Now I have a TV, a fridge, a Volkswagen. Yet my whole life has been a drag. Dont negotiate with the bosses. Abolish them If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.
The more you consume, the less you live. Commodities are the opium of the people.

1970s Fractured cultural sophistication Critical Theory became adopted by more factions (feminism, subaltern studies, marxism, structuralism, literary theory) The struggles of critical theory became more marketable but less universal

She's got a smile that it seems to me Reminds me of childhood memories Where everything Was as fresh as the bright blue sky Now and then when I see her face She takes me away to that special place And if I stare too long I'd probably break down and cry

1980s cultural protest becomes a commodity Rock music is appropriated as an embodiment of rebellion, but is now an inherent part of the system

With the lights out, it's less dangerous Here we are now, entertain us I feel stupid and contagious Here we are now, entertain us A mulatto, an albino A mosquito, my libido Yeah, hey, yay

And I forget just why I taste Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile I found it hard, it's hard to find Oh well, whatever, nevermind

1990s a rejection of cultural products altogether Nirvana seeks to undermine the clean cultural finesse You cant rely on culture to have your revolution You have to negotiate your own meaning! If there is any

The rise and fall of critical theory

Culture cynically produced for markets

Like boy bands

manufactured to appeal to teenage girls Or news stories Or education

Social meaning is irrelevant, anyway

The revolutionary aspect of

culture/public/youth rebellion has been completely commodified and neutralised

Baby you light up my world like nobody else, The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell, You don't know, Oh oh, You don't know you're beautiful

Classical theory is concerned with understanding the world, critical theory is concerned with changing it The Frankfurt School of critical theory has suggested that the medias overt representation of powerful interests lies behind many of todays pressing problems The work of the Frankfurt School has been criticised for

Relying on exaggerated claims about culture (such as the

magic bullet model of media influence) Thinking that their arguments were enough to generate change Being inaccessible to the wider reading public

But it is also great theory to use in critiquing current communicative (and cultural) practices