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PNG0078

Kritisk teori och kritisk realism

Two of the theoretical paradigms that presently influence and contribute to social science are critical theory and critical realism. At the end of his life Foucault stated that if he had been more knowledgeable about critical theory earlier he would have saved useful time and avoided several errors. Even though critical theory and critical realism are hugely influential in social science on a global level, the knowledge of these paradigms in Sweden is quite limited.



This course offers a general introduction to both critical theory and critical realism, with a specific focus on their contributions to social science. Students will be introduced to the paradigms’ major arguments and discussions, concerning issues, such as forms of reasons and knowledge, ontology and epistemology, levels of reality, science’s critical capacity and self-reflexivity, the relation between structure and agency and dialectics. There will be a major focus on the theories and arguments of Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno and Jürgen Habermas, who are regarded as major advocates of different versions of critical theory, and Roy Bhaskar, Margaret S. Archer and Bob Jessop, whose research are inspired by theories and arguments of critical realism.



The core of the course will consist of a series of lectures and seminars. The lectures will focus on essential aspects of these theories and their current scientific impacts. The seminars will be dedicated to analysing original texts by social scientists, related to these theories, and to discussing how the participants of the course can use these theories for their own scientific research and production.



The course will be divided into four parts, each devoted to a central theoretical issue.

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