Contemporary conditions show that critique is not necessarily used as a means of emancipation. On the contrary, it has become a well-established weapon for communication strategists in the maintenance of contemporary relations of dominance, and is also utilized as an individualized control function. The anorexic, the depressive, and those suffering from stress or anxiety are all characterized by extremely negative self-criticism and an unbearable weariness of being themselves. The article formulates the first steps towards revitalizing the concept of critique so that it becomes possible to formulate a critical sociology which applies the positive characteristics of the concept as a yardstick for society's moral development.
Boltanski, L. and Thévenot, L. (2006[1991]) On Justification: Economics of Worth. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.
2.
Bourdieu, P. (2002 [1993]) The Weight of the World. Polity: Cambridge.
3.
Butler, J. (2002) Giving an Account of Oneself: A Critique of Ethical Violence. KoninklijkeVan Gorcum: Assen.
4.
Callinicos, A. (2006) The Resources of Critique. Polity: Cambridge.
5.
Dean, M.D. (2006[1999]) Magt og styring i det moderne samfund. Forlaget Sociologi: Copenhagen.
6.
Forst, R. (2003) Toleranz im Konflikt. Suhrkamp : Frankfurt am Main.
7.
Foucault, M. (1997) The Politics of Truth. Semiotext (E): Los Angeles, CA.
8.
Foucault, M. (2001) Fearless Speech. Semiotext (E): Los Angeles, CA.
9.
Fraser, N. (1997) Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the `Postsocialist' Condition. Routledge: New York, NY/London.
10.
Habermas, J. (1971) Theorie und Praxis. Suhrkamp : Frankfurt am Main.
11.
Honneth, A. (1994a) Pathologien des Sozialen: die Aufgabe der Sozialphilosophie . Fischer: Frankfurt am Main.
12.
Honneth, A. (1994b) Kampf um Anerkennung: zur moralischen Grammatik sozialer Konflikte. Suhrkamp: Frankfurt am Main.
13.
Honneth, A. and Joas, H. (1988[1980]) Social Action and Human Nature. Cambridge University Press:Cambridge.
14.
Lepsius, M.R. (1997) Kritik als Beruf: zur Soziologie der intellektuellen . Jürgen Friedrichs, Karl Ulrich Mayer and Wolfgang Schluchter (eds) Soziologische Theorie und Empirie. Westdeutscher: Opladen.
15.
Luhmann, N. (1991) Am Ende der kritischen Soziologie. Zeitschrift für Soziologie20(2): 147-52.
16.
Margalit, A. (1998) The Decent Society. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.
17.
Merton, R.K. and Nisbet, R. (1971[1961]) Contemporary Social Problems. Harcourt, Brace and World: New York, NY.
18.
O'Neill, O. (2000) Starke und schwache Gesellschaftskritik in einer globalisierten Welt. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie48(5): 719-28.
19.
Popper, K. (2002) The Open Society and its Enemies. Routledge: Oxford.
20.
Ricoeur, P. (1998) Critique and Conviction. Polity : Cambridge.
21.
Salamon, K.L.G. (2006) Et nyt verdensbillede? Omrealisering af selvet som aktie. Svend Brinkmann and Cecilie Eriksen (eds) Selvrealisering: kritiske diskussioner af en grænseløs kultur. Forlaget Klim: Århus.
22.
Sartre, J.-P. (1979) Forsvar for de intellektuelle. Bibliotek Rhodos: Copenhagen.
23.
Seidman, S. and Alexander, J.C. (2001) The New Social Theory Reader. Routledge: London.
24.
Vobruba, G. (2003) Kritik an der Gesellschaft in der Gesellschaft . Nikos Psarros et al. (eds) Die Entwicklung sozialer Wirklichkeit: Auseinandersetzungen mit der historisch-genetischen Theorie der Gesellschaft, pp. 208-16. Velbrück Wissenschaft: Weilerswist.
25.
Walzer, M. (1987) Interpretation and Social Criticism. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.
26.
Walzer, M. (2002) Thick and Thin: Moral Argument at Home and Abroad . University of Notre Dame Press: Notre Dame, IN.
27.
Willig, R. (2007) Til forsvar for kritikken. Hans Reitzels Forlag: Copenhagen.
28.
Willig, R. and stergaard, M. (2005) Indledning. Rasmus Willig and Marie stergaard (eds) Sociale Patologier, pp. 1-9. Hans Reitzels Forlag: Copenhagen.
