This book contributes to the foundations of a critical theory of communication as shaped by the forces of digital capitalism. One of the world's leading theorists of digital media Professor Christian Fuchs explores how the thought of some of the Frankfurt School’s key thinkers can be deployed for critically understanding media in the age of the Internet. Five essays that form the heart of this book review aspects of the works of Georg Lukács, Theodor W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Axel Honneth and Jürgen Habermas and apply them as elements of a critical theory of communication's foundations. The approach taken starts from Georg Lukács Ontology of Social Being, draws on the work of the Frankfurt School thinkers, and sets them into dialogue with the Cultural Materialism of Raymond Williams. Critical Theory of Communication offers a vital set of new insights on how communication operates in the age of information, digital media and social media, arguing that we need to transcend the communication theory of Habermas by establishing a dialectical and cultural-materialist critical theory of communication
Author(s): Christian Fuchs
Publisher: University of Westminster Press
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 236
Tags: Critical Theory, Communication
Cover......Page 1
Title page......Page 2
Copyright......Page 3
Contents......Page 4
1 Introduction: Critical Theory of Communication: New Readings of Lukács, Adorno, Marcuse, Honneth......Page 6
1.1. What is Critical Theory?......Page 10
1.2. Critical Theory and Karl Marx......Page 14
1.3. The Frankfurt School......Page 27
1.4. Linking the Frankfurt School and other Critical Theories: Lev Vygotsky, Valentin Vološinov, Fe......Page 31
1.5. Habermas: Theory of Communicative Action......Page 34
1.6. The Frankfurt School and Martin Heidegger’s Philosophy7......Page 36
1.7. The Chapters in this Book......Page 44
2.1. Introduction......Page 52
2.2. Work and Communication......Page 57
2.3. Labour and Ideology......Page 68
2.4. Conclusion......Page 74
3.1. Introduction......Page 80
3.2. Adorno - A Media Pessimist?......Page 81
3.3. Lukács and Adorno: The Theory of Art and Knowledge......Page 88
3.4. The Dialectics of Knowledge......Page 100
3.5. Conclusion......Page 110
4.1. Introduction......Page 116
4.2. Herbert Marcuse and the Computer......Page 119
4.3. Herbert Marcuse, Hegelian Dialectics and Social Media......Page 121
4.4. Herbert Marcuse and Digital Labour on Social Media......Page 129
4.5. Herbert Marcuse, Ideology and Social Media......Page 136
4.6. Herbert Marcuse, the Logic of Essence and Social Media......Page 143
4.7. Conclusion......Page 150
5.1. Introduction......Page 158
5.2. Lukács’ Theory of Reification and Alienation......Page 159
5.3. Axel Honneth’s Interpretation of Lukács’ Concept of Reification in the Critical Theory of Reco......Page 162
5.4. Towards a Materialist Theory of Morality as Theory of Co-operation and Social Co-Production......Page 168
5.5. The Media, Alienation and Morality......Page 174
5.6. Conclusion......Page 178
6.1. Introduction......Page 182
6.2. Economic Reductionism: Alfred Sohn-Rethel......Page 183
6.3. Cultural Reductionism: Jean Baudrillard......Page 186
6.4. Labour/Communication Dualism: Jürgen Habermas......Page 190
6.5. Towards a Dialectic of Labour and Communication: Lev Vygotsky, Valentin Vološinov, Feruccio Ro......Page 194
6.6. Towards a Dialectical Critical Theory of Communication......Page 198
7.1. The Starting Point: Karl Marx......Page 212
7.2. Georg Lukács: Teleological Positing......Page 213
7.3. Theodor W. Adorno: The Dialectics of Knowledge......Page 215
7.4. Herbert Marcuse: The Meta-Dialectic and the Dialectical Logic of Essence......Page 216
7.5. Axel Honneth Revisits Lukács’ History and Class Consciousness: The Critical Theory of Recognit......Page 218
7.6. Beyond Jürgen Habermas’ Critical Theory of Communication......Page 219
7.7. Towards a Dialectical Critical Theory of Communication......Page 220
Index......Page 226
