Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

What is criticism in social sciences, A theoretical study

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

Reza Safari Shali 1
Affan Khodamoradi 2
Elham Sakhaei 3

1 Associate Professor of Sociology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD Student of Sociology, Cultural Policy Making, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

3 PhD Student of Sociology, Social Issues Studies, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22035/isih.2025.5510.5132
Abstract
Social criticism is considered one of the most fundamental concepts in modern social sciences, which has played a pivotal role in the analysis of power structures, dominant ideologies, and social representations since the Enlightenment. The present study, relying on the documentary method and a qualitative approach, analyzes and compares four prominent schools of thought - the Frankfurt School, feminism, post-colonial studies, and post-modernism - that have been more loyal to the social critical movement than other schools of thought, in relation to social criticism. The data were collected through a systematic review of theoretical texts and previous studies and examined with an analytical approach. The results of this analysis show that although these schools differ in terms of epistemological foundations, methodology, and historical origins, they all consider criticism to be a political, revealing, and liberating act that aims to deconstruct dominant discourses and challenge the status quo.Based on these analyses, the present study extracts five key components of social criticism—politicalness, exposure, liberation, focus on the underdog, and social construction of reality—that are considered in all four schools of thought, and provides a theoretical framework for analyzing and evaluating critical discourses. The present study has attempted to present a structured picture of the nature and function of social criticism in the theoretical context of contemporary schools of thought through case analyses.
 

Keywords

Social criticism
Frankfurt school
feminism
post-colonial studies
post-modernism

Subjects

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  • Receive Date 08 April 2025
  • Revise Date 06 May 2025
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