Eksamen øving Flashcards
(44 cards)
What is Critical Theory?
A theoretical perspective that seeks to liberate human beings from circumstances that enslave them by critically analyzing and challenging dominant social structures, power relations, and ideologies.
Originating with the Frankfurt School.
What is the Frankfurt School?
An intellectual and sociological research institute founded in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1923, known for developing Critical Theory and drawing on Marxist thought to analyze modern society.
Define Subjective Reason.
A form of rationality focused on the efficient application of means to achieve given ends, without questioning the value or reasonableness of the ends themselves; technological rationality.
Define Objective Reason.
A form of rationality that considers the relative value of ends and includes ethical aspects; individualistic or ethical reasoning.
What is the Culture Industry?
The industrialization of mass-culture production, leading to standardized cultural products that distract and pacify the population, hindering critical thought.
What does Pseudo-Individualization refer to?
The illusion of individual choice and expression in a society with increasingly standardized cultural products and modes of life.
Who coined the term One Dimensional Man?
Herbert Marcuse.
What is the concept of One Dimensional Man?
Describes individuals in advanced industrial societies who are integrated into the prevailing system through the fulfillment of vital needs and the creation of false needs, leading to a comfortable unfreedom.
Define Liquid Modernity.
A phase of modernity characterized by fluidity, uncertainty, and a shift from fixed structures and universal norms to a pluralism of authority and the centrality of individual choice.
What is a Risk Society?
A society where the consequences of modernization, particularly manufactured risks, become central concerns, and individuals are increasingly responsible for navigating these uncertainties.
What is Reflexive Modernization?
A process where societies must confront and come to terms with the unintended consequences of collective action and modernization.
Define the Boomerang Effect.
The phenomenon where the negative consequences of modernization and global capitalism ‘backfire,’ affecting even those who benefit from the system.
What is Organized Irresponsibility?
Institutional systems that mask or obscure individual responsibility for systemic risks and problems.
What does McDonaldization refer to?
The process by which the organizational principles of the fast-food restaurant dominate increasingly diverse sectors of society.
What is the Irrationality of Rationalization?
The paradoxical outcome where systems designed for increased efficiency and rationality can lead to irrational and negative consequences.
Define Postmodernism.
A broad intellectual and cultural movement that questions or rejects the assumptions, values, and grand narratives of modernity.
What is Poststructuralism?
A theoretical approach that builds upon and critiques structuralism, emphasizing the instability of meaning and the contextual nature of knowledge.
What is a Simulacrum?
A copy or image without an original, where symbols refer only to other symbols, contributing to the formation of a ‘hyperreality.’
Define Hyperreality.
A condition where the distinction between reality and simulation collapses, and symbols and signs no longer refer to a concrete reality.
What is a Metanarrative?
A grand, overarching story or theory that claims universal validity and legitimizes knowledge.
Define Scientific Realism.
The philosophical position that there is an independent external world and that scientific inquiry can discover objective truths about it.
What is an Epistemological Critique?
A challenge to the assumptions and methods by which knowledge is produced and validated.
What does Relativism assert?
The view that knowledge, truth, or morality is not absolute but is relative to various factors.
Define Logocentricism.
The idea that language directly represents reality.
