Conceptual Context

Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School

This research draws on ideas from critical theory of the Frankfurt School tradition. Critical theory, informed by multiple perspectives, emerged with the establishment of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, Germany in 1923 by a group of predominantly Jewish intellectuals. The term "critical theory", however, was not actually coined until 1937 to describe the theoretical program of the Institute. Due to the political situation in Germany and the rise of the Nazis, these theorists at the Institute were forced to relocate to France and then the United States before returning to Germany after the war (Peters, Lankshear & Olssen, 2003).

According to R. Morrow (1994), the Frankfurt School was characterized by its systematic use of traditional research methods, such as survey research, to test and refine propositions derived from Marxist tradition for emancipatory ends, while challenging modernity. Some of their early research projects involved studies of the family, culture, Nazism, and the nature of authority relations under capitalism (Peters et al, 2003). Critical theorists accept interdisciplinary theories and methods from the social sciences and humanities. In their more humanistic approach than traditional theorists, they understand the ways in which power and capital influence freedom and opportunity in society and concentrate on language and media as agents of social renewal.