In recent years the concept of globalization migrated successfully from the discourse of the mass media into the realm of social theory and political philosophy. But this migration does not only evince the changes of economic, political and social realities, it also expresses the need to revise our theoretical toolboxes. Theory itself becomes the target of this scrutiny. Do we really need political and social theories, once the illusion of a well-organized social and political world has vanished? The answer to this question leads to critical theory. This article argues that theoretical reflection is important in order to establish a normative frame, which is indispensable in a situation of major political and social transformation. But also that a critical theory of globalization has to learn from the mistakes committed in the past. It has to accept more willingly the consequences of the awareness of plurality and accept the challenge to eliminate its Eurocentrism.

Following Max Horkheimer, I will first attempt to reconstruct an anthropology that essentially wants to be understood as critical social research. I will then pursue the question of humanism in critical theory. In doing so, I want to show that a reference to a normatively substantive humanism does actually exist in critical theory. On the other hand, I want to show that this humanism is anything but unambiguously and systematically formulated but has been reflected and articulated differently by different representatives of critical theory. The two examples I will refer to here are Theodor W. Adorno and Erich Fromm. I will define Adorno’s humanism as ‘dialectical humanism’, whereas Fromm’s humanism could be described as ‘emphatic humanism’. My reading, however, attempts to interrogate the two positions as to their complementarity. Not ‘Adorno or Fromm’, but ‘Adorno and Fromm’ is the motto that guides me. Finally, I will relate this complementary reading of both approaches in such a way that the possibility of a ‘Critical Humanism’ can be derived from it, which above all also wants to be understood as a sociological research program.

Notes on Hartmut Rosas' critical theory Notas sobre a teoria crítica de Hartmut Rosa

No abstract

No abstract