Critical Theory and Libertarian Socialism Realizing the Political Potential of Critical Social Theory

This volume in the Critical Theory and Contemporary Society series examines the role critical theory plays in today's political, social, and economic crises, showing how it can help to both diagnose and remedy such problems

Marx, Cole and the Frankfurt School: Realising the political potential of critical social theory

In this article, the author proposes that whilst Habermas's attempt to conceptualise a political form oriented towards the institutionalisation of emancipatory practice represents a positive step for critical theory, it is best served by developing a theoretical framework that does not presuppose or apologise for the instrumental mastery of external nature. It is argued that in order to achieve such a task, the political potential of the critique of instrumental reason elaborated by the first generation of Frankfurt School theorists ought to be realised through the labour-mediated reconciliation of humanity with both internal and external nature, for which the libertarian socialism of G. D. H. Cole provides an adequate basis. © The Author(s) 2012

Critical theory and contemporary social movements: Conceptualizing resistance in the neoliberal age

The advent of an unregulated and financial form of capitalism, combined with a sharp rise in income inequalities and economic insecurity since the 1970s, appears to pose, at first glance, a significant challenge for the relevance of the works of first-generation critical theorists, which are often confined to an historically specific 'artistic' critique of the bureaucratic stage of capitalist development. Through an analysis of the various concerns and demands expressed by members of the alter-globalization and Occupy movements, the article nevertheless aims to demonstrate that first-generation critical theory can continue to play a significant role in conceptualizing contemporary forms of resistance by: (1) capturing the social malaise engendered by neoliberal capitalism; and (2) informing the practice of resistance in contemporary capitalist societies. © The Author(s) 2013

Bourdieu, Foucault and the politics of precarity

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis (Routledge) via the DOI in this record.Precarity is widely regarded as a defining condition of advanced capitalist societies. Given its existentially troubling character and a range of movements condemning its social consequences, several contemporary analysts have sought to diagnose the prospects for liberating society from its rule. Many of those accounts have been inspired by the post-structuralism of Michel Foucault. It is nevertheless argued here that Pierre Bourdieu offers more suitable conceptual tools for diagnosing precarity-induced domination and making sense of resistance in the contemporary age of precarity. With a focus on Foucault’s neoliberal ‘art of government’ and Bourdieu’s concept of ‘symbolic power,’ this article exposes the differences between each theorist’s account of precarity. While doing so will help grasp the complex and singular character of the operations of power today, it will also serve to highlight the merits of Bourdieu’s work for capturing the limits of, and cracks within, precarity-induced domination. Realising the full potential of his own approach for conceptualising resistance, however, rests on supplementing it with insights drawn from intersectionality theory

Low level of virological failure and drug resistance among patients receiving antiretroviral treatment under programme conditions in Maputo, Mozambique

Mexico AIDS Conference 200

Theorising French neoliberalism: The technocratic elite, decentralised collective bargaining and France’s ‘passive neoliberal revolution’

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.Despite experiencing an early and protracted neoliberal transformation, France has exhibited an acutely ambiguous stance towards neoliberal practice. This is illustrated by, for example, regular nationwide protests opposed to policies with an overtly neoliberal flavour, or the coexistence of heavy taxation and a profound financialisation of its economy. This article seeks to explain why neoliberalism successfully developed in France, despite such an ambiguity. The focus will be placed on the transformation of labour relations, which will reveal the important role played by both the technocratic elite and firm-level negotiations in legitimating neoliberal practice. It will be argued that while several relevant sociological explanations offer some valuable insights for making sense of neoliberalism’s successful development in France, Antonio Gramsci’s concept of ‘passive revolution’ provides a very fruitful basis upon which to capture the singularity of the French case

Pluriversal intersectionality, critique and utopia

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordAuthor accepted manuscript replaced with published version by Caroline Huxtable on 2022-03-23Since intersectionality theory constitutes a critical assessment of the way the social world operates and strives for social justice, it entails an image of how the world is and how things could become. In this article a version of intersectionality with particularly strong counter-cultural tendencies is considered. Drawing on Ruth Levitas’ approach to utopia as ‘method,’ it makes explicit pluriversal intersectionality’s utopian content. It is shown that the defining features of this intersectionality theory share an elective affinity with the principle of self-management lying at the core of the libertarian strand of socialist thought. But the utopia whose contours are drawn here is not expected to act as a blueprint. Instead, the article aspires to serve as an invitation to dialogue about the kind of future that could lie beyond intersectional oppression and, consequently, help consolidate pluriversal intersectionality’s transformative potential

Comparative study of the phase transition of Li1+xMn2-xO4 by anelastic spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry

Li1+xMn2xO4 is one of the most promising candidates as high performance cathode for lithium ion batteries. The stoichiometric compound is known to undergo a phase transition around room temperature, which has been widely studied and attributed either to Jahn–Teller effect or to charge ordering. For the applications it is important to suppress this phase transition, which lowers the electrochemical performances of the material. DSC measurements, which have been largely used in the literature to study the occurrence of the transformation, can detect a phase transition accompanied by latent heat only for x < 0.04. This fact has been generally accepted as a proof that the transformation is suppressed by doping. However, by using a technique extremely sensitive to rearrangements of atoms in the lattice, such as anelastic spectroscopy, we show that the phase transition persists up to x = 0.08, is shifted to lower temperatures, and changes its nature from first to higher order. The implications for the mechanism driving the transition and the similarities and differences with doped Fe3O4, which is the prototype of charge order transitions, are discussed