Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative or positive qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the ...

focusing on social issues in contemporary

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

, in respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general.

Social criticism of the Enlightenment

The origin of modern social criticism go back at least to the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

. According to the historian Jonathan Israel the roots of the radical enlightenment can be found in Spinoza and his circle. Radical enlighteners like

Jean Meslier Jean Meslier (; also Mellier; 15 June 1664 – 17 June 1729) was a French Catholic priest (abbé) who was discovered, upon his death, to have written a book-length philosophical essay promoting atheism and materialism. Described by the author as ...

were not satisfied with the social criticism of the time, which was essentially a criticism of religion. The focus of his criticism was the suffering of the peasants. In addition, there was also a criticism of civilization for religious reasons, such as that which emanated from the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

in England.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

developed a social criticism in his

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

which influenced the French Revolution andin his pedagogy.

Academic forms

The positivism dispute between critical rationalism, e.g. between

Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the ...

and the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School is a school of thought in sociology and critical theory. It is associated with the University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, Institute for Social Research founded in 1923 at the University of Frankfurt am Main ...

, dealt with the question of whether research in the

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

s should be "neutral" or consciously adopt a partisan view. Academic works of social criticism can belong to

social philosophy Social philosophy is the study and interpretation of society and social institutions in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophers emphasize understanding the social contexts for political, legal, moral and cultur ...

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...

but also

cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

and other disciplines or reject academic forms of

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. F ...

In literature and music

Social criticism can be expressed in a fictional form, e.g. in a

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

ary novel like '' The Iron Heel'' (1908) by Jack London, in dystopian novels like

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

's '' Brave New World'' (1932),

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's '' Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (1949),

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

's ''

Fahrenheit 451 ''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 Dystopian fiction, dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" Book burning, burn any that are found. The novel follows in the ...

'' (1953), and Rafael Grugman's '' Nontraditional Love'' (2008), or in

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

or films. According to Frederick Douglass, "Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe." Fictional literature can have a significant social impact. For example, the 1852 novel ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

'', by

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

furthered the anti-slavery movement in the United States, and the 1885 novel '' Ramona'', by Helen Hunt Jackson, brought about changes in laws regarding Native Americans. Similarly,

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

's 1906 novel ''

The Jungle ''The Jungle'' is a novel by American author and muckraking-journalist Upton Sinclair, known for his efforts to expose corruption in government and business in the early 20th century. In 1904, Sinclair spent seven weeks gathering information ...

'' helped create new laws related to public health and food handling, and Arthur Morrison's 1896 novel ''A Child of the Jago'' caused England to change its housing laws.

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

and Orwell respectively wrote''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long impr ...

'' and ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

'' to express their disillusionment with society and human nature. ''A Tale of Two Cities'' typifies this kind of literature. Besides the central theme of love is another prevalent theme, that of a revolution gone bad. Dickens shows that human nature causes humans to be vengeful and at time overly ambitious. Both of these books are similar in that both describe how, even with the best of intentions, human ambitions get the best of them. ''Animal Farm'', written in 1944, is a book that tells the animal fable of a farm in which the farm animals revolt against their human masters. It is an example of social criticism in literature in which Orwell satirized the events in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. He anthropomorphizes the animals, and alludes each one to a counterpart in Russian history. Both authors also demonstrate that violence and the Machiavellian attitude of "the ends justifying the means" are deplorable. They also express their authors' disenchantment with the state of evolution of human nature. Dickens and Orwell imply, that even if humans begin with honourable intentions, there will be some who will let their basic instincts take control. In ''A Tale of Two Cities'', Dickens examines the inner soul, and shares with us how people are driven to the valley of human emotions, where desperation and anger reign, and what could happen afterwards if we let these emotions build up inside. Every human being is capable of becoming a ruthless, opportunistic being like

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

or Madame Defarge, if placed in the right place, at the right time. ''Animal Farm'' portrays this nature through parodying events in real history. Given the right conditions, these events could happen anywhere, for example a leader becoming overly ambitious to the point of harming his people for more power. Social criticism is present in

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

(e.g. '' The Cradle Will Rock'' or '' Trouble in Tahiti'') and other types of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, such as the Symphony No.13, called " Babi Yar", of Dmitri Shostakovich.

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

al expressions of social criticism are also found in rock and rap music, with examples that include " God Save the Queen" by Sex Pistols and " Brenda's Got a Baby" by 2Pac.

Literature

Classical writings

* Étienne de La Boétie: Discourse on Voluntary Servitude (circa 1560) * Baruch de Spinoza: Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, 1670 *

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

: '' What Is Enlightenment?'' 1784 * Mary Wollstonecraft: '' A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'' 1792 *

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

: ''

Das Kapital ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' (), also known as ''Capital'' or (), is the most significant work by Karl Marx and the cornerstone of Marxian economics, published in three volumes in 1867, 1885, and 1894. The culmination of his ...

.'' 1867 * Mikhail Bakunin: '' Statism and Anarchy'' 1873 *

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

: '' Untimely Meditations.'' (1873–1876) *

: ''

''. 1906 *

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

: ''Zur Kritik der Gewalt''. In: ''Archiv für Sozialwissenschaften und Sozialpolitik'', 1921, engl. Toward the Critique of Violence: A Critical Edition, Stanford University Press 2021 * Georg Lukács: '' History and Class Consciousness''. 1923 * Virginia Woolf: '' A Room of One's Own''. 1929 *

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

: '' Civilization and Its Discontents''. 1930 * Max Horkheimer: Traditional and Critical Theory (1937) *

Norbert Elias Norbert Elias (; 22 June 1897 – 1 August 1990) was a German-Jewish sociologist who later became a British citizen. He is especially famous for his theory of civilizing/decivilizing processes. Life and career Elias was born on 22 June 1 ...

: ''Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation''. 1939, engl The Civilizing Process * Friedrich August von Hayek: '' The Road to Serfdom''. 1944 * Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno: ''Dialektik der Aufklärung''. 1947, engl. Dialectic of Enlightenment * Simone de Beauvoir: Le Deuxième Sexe'', 1949, engl. The Second Sex''. * Aimé Césaire: ''Discours sur le colonialisme'' (1950), engl. Discourse on Colonialism * Ernst Bloch: ''Das Prinzip Hoffnung'' (1938 bis 1947), engl. The Principle of Hope *

Erich Fromm Erich Seligmann Fromm (; ; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and set ...

: ''The art of loving''. 1956 * Milovan Đilas: The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System 1957 * Friedrich August von Hayek: '' The Constitution of Liberty''. 1960 * Frantz Fanon: ''Les damnés de la terre'', engl. The Wretched of the Earth * Rachel Carson: '' Silent Spring'' (1962) * Herbert Marcuse: '' One-Dimensional Man'' (1964) *

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situat ...

: ''La Société du spectacle'' (1967), engl. The Society of the Spectacle * Louis Althusser: ''Idéologie et appareils idéologiques d’État'', published in La Pensée, no 151, June 1970, engl. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses *

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

: ''Surveiller et punir: Naissance de la prison'' (1975), engl. Discipline and Punish *

: ''La volonté de savoir'', engl. vol. 1 of The History of Sexuality * Cornelius Castoriadis: '' L'Institution imaginaire de la société'' (1975), engl. ''Imaginary Institution of Society: Creativity and Autonomy in the Social–historical World'', London: Polity, 1997 (new edition) *

Pierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu (, ; ; ; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influ ...

: ''La distinction: Critique sociale du jugement'' (1979), engl. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste

Important contemporary works

* Audre Lorde: ''Sister Outsider'', 1984 * Michel Henry: ''La barbarie''. Bernard Grasset, Paris 1987,engl. ''Barbarism'', Continuum 2012 * Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: ''Can the Subaltern Speak?'' in: Cary Nelson & Lawrence Grossberg (Hgg.): Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, University of Illinois Press, Chicago 1988, *

Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In ...

: Gender Trouble. 1989 * Monique Wittig: ''The Straight Mind and other Essays'', 1992 * Raewyn Connell: ''Masculinities''. 1995 * Richard Sennett: ''The corrosion of character. The Personal Consequences Of Work In the New Capitalism''. 1998 *

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

: '' Manufacturing Consent''. 1988. '' Profit over People''. 2000 * Gilbert Rist: ''Le développement, Histoire d’une croyance occidentale''. Presses de Sciences Po, Paris 1996 – engl. ''The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith''. Zed Books, London 2003 * Arno Gruen: '' The Insanity of Normality: Understanding Human Destructiveness''. Human Development Books, Berkeley 2007

References

{{Authority control Criticisms Cultural studies Justice Social commentary