Australian-based sociologist, Craig Browne reconceptualises Critical Theory in order to better understand how diverse social actors attempt to develop autonomous solutions to the contradictions produced by capitalism.The search for a more just social order is thus intrinsically connected to explaining and critiquing the oppressive workings of capitalist societies. Browne’s analysis of capitalist modernisation uses Critical Theory to do just that, combining elements from Marx’s labour theory of value, Weber’s idea of rationalisation as a process of institutionalisation, Habermas’s theory of communicative action and Honneth’s concept of social freedom.

• IntroductionA New Nexus of Social Change?From the Critique of Objectification to the Reconceptualization of AlienationSystem Integration and Social DisintegrationThe End of Immanent Critique?Positive Liberty and Social JusticeSocial Freedom and Social AutonomyConclusion

Australian-based sociologist, Craig Browne reconceptualises Critical Theory in order to better understand how diverse social actors attempt to develop autonomous solutions to the contradictions produced by capitalism.The search for a more just social order is thus intrinsically connected to explaining and critiquing the oppressive workings of capitalist societies. Browne’s analysis of capitalist modernisation uses Critical Theory to do just that, combining elements from Marx’s labour theory of value, Weber’s idea of rationalisation as a process of institutionalisation, Habermas’s theory of communicative action and Honneth’s concept of social freedom.

• IntroductionA New Nexus of Social Change?From the Critique of Objectification to the Reconceptualization of AlienationSystem Integration and Social DisintegrationThe End of Immanent Critique?Positive Liberty and Social JusticeSocial Freedom and Social AutonomyConclusion