Media continues to shape our everyday lives and transforms the way we communicate to one another. It has come to be known as the vessel through which many of us learn or experience new aspects of the world surrounding us. Even while we do not perceive the information directly from media, we get them through other people who get their perception of the world from the media. The introduction of Mass media caused a paradigm shift in the folk culture that our forefathers were exposed to long ago. Before, everyday communication was primarily carried out through word of mouth. Music and storytelling formed an essential part of the folk culture mostly to the extended family. The mass media changed the way people communicated as the nuclear family gathered in front the captivating, electronic storyteller. Our culture also evolved to fall in respect to the older people and the wisdom they hold. The critical theory suggests that it is not wise to have that shift quite yet.
As a general term, critical theory means the criticism directed towards the status quo openly, opposing capitalism and domination that the media and its advocates have done on the society. In more specific terms, the theory signifies the work of the Frankfurt Scholars ( Fuchs, 2009) . They include Herbert Marcuse, Jürgen Habermas, Max Horkheimer, and Theodore Adorno. All these scholars developed their work from that of Karl Max. To them, the critical theory was a twisted label for ‘Marxist Theory.’ This happened when they were held in exile following Nazi crackdown and feared being labeled communist thinkers and therefore were tactical in their approaches.
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A lot of researchers have tried to define the term critical theory with some of them giving vague and general definitions. For instance, David Macey terms it as “a whole range of theories which take a critical view of society and the human sciences or which seek to explain the emergence of their objects of knowledge ( Fuchs, 2009) .” This definition is circular and defines the critical theories as criticizing the society but does not give the further specific meaning to being critical. The other arguments include those that are not specific and only refer to the theories as being about political engagement or figure out the difference between potentiality and actuality.
The standpoint of politics forms the basis of definition by Michael Payne who states that critical theory is “research projects in the social sciences and/or humanities attempt to bring truth and political engagement into alignment.” The potentiality versus actuality forms the argument point for Craig Calhoun who explains that the theory “exists largely to facilitate a constructive engagement with the social world that starts from the presumption that existing arrangements – including currently affirmed identities and differences – do not exhaust the range of possibilities ( Fuchs, 2009) .”
From the above definitions and explanations, there is significant evidence that critical theory focuses on the society, seeks to mediate political engagement, and point out the variation between potentiality and actuality. Alongside the vague references, there are more specific definitions which include that of Axel Honneth which states that the theory is an analysis of how the media relates to social relations as it dwells on the structural forms of disrespect and misrecognition that it brings. The other specific definition is that of Rainer Forst who describes by referencing the Habermasian project. Thus, this theory would seek to answer the questions of the factors that constrain communication.
It is clear that critical theory has both sides of the coin and that the approach to its definition means that one overlooks some aspects and engaging some. For example, when defining it using the broad and vague references, it is possible to lose the meaning of the critical theory being a critique of the domination and capitalism. Also, when one adopts the more specific methods, concepts, or projects, then it is possible to be fixed between a narrow-mindedness which would lead to the weakening of the political and academic power of the critical theory. It is therefore imperative to adopt a third means of definition by making it become the analysis and criticizing the societal evils, exploitation, inequality, and domination, which would, in turn, lead to the social struggles and liberation from the bondage of power. The result is the birth of a non-dominated, participatory, and cooperative society (Fuchs, 2009).
Elements of the critical theory
Epistemology (Dialectal Realism)
Epistemology defines how we recognize the question of being. It is the description of how we conceive and perceive reality. Thus, realism sees the world as existing in a realm more significant than the human being and any of its imaginations. It assumes the material world is the primary aspect of life and that the humans can analyze, describe, grasp, and somewhat transform the world in academic work. This concept conducts analyses which look for the essence of societal existence through recognizing the inconsistencies that are at the core of development. As far as critical theory is concerned, the social phenomena are not founded on a one-dimensional logic.
Realism assumes that the events are devoid of the direct causes and effects, but should instead be conceived in complex forms as they are dynamic, open, and bear some development potentials in them. It also operates on the insight that a society should have neither only risks nor only opportunities but conflicting tendencies that represent both benefit and demerit potentials at the same instance. The dialectic analysis serves both optimism and pessimism as complex dynamic thinking towards realism. In this effect, the dialectic concept analyzes the phenomena as the individual contradictions between some societal structures. For instance, it puts into context the things regarding essence and existence, potentiality, and actuality, virtual and real, immanence and transcendence, global and local, continuity and discontinuity, etc.
Ontology (Dynamic materialism)
The critical theory takes a materialistic view of the society as it addresses the societal problems and phenomena concerning social struggles and resource distribution rather than seeing it as predetermined and absolute ideas. In this sense, the reality is observed as an address to ownership, power, domination, exploitation, resource control and distribution, private property, and social struggles. Ontology tries to analyze the society as a totality which is interconnected and identifies the antagonisms. This means that the concept takes a look at the different predispositions that are related to the same phenomenon. It also says that the society is full of dynamism as the contradictions result to the development and flow of matter.
Axiology (Negating the negative)
Any approach that adopts the critical way takes the standpoint of the oppressed and the vulnerable individuals in the society and judge that the structures of oppression benefit only a particular faction while taking advantage of the others hence this should be rectified through the social struggles. The critical theory does not welcome the society as it is, and does not accept the social structures as they exist, but instead focused on what the culture can be and can become. It breaks the ideologies that argue that a situation cannot be changed and gives counter-trends and other modes of development.
When the media, communication, and culture, as well as technology, are considered essential components of the modern capitalism, then a critique of the predisposition is crucial to the critical theory. It is thus vital to view the phenomena of media, technology, and communication in the context of oppression, exploitation, power, domination, asymmetrical resource distribution, and societal struggles. Media, information, and communication studies are therefore necessary for the contribution of the establishment of a cooperative, participatory society by employing the empirical means. The critical media studies are thus political and normative.
This broad definition makes it easy for the combination of different concepts that spring from varying essential backgrounds and putting them under one roof of a reference. Up to this point, it is evident that the critical theory links the mass media to a variety of problems facing the society (Naveed, 2017).
Critical theory has both its merits and demerits when put in some perspective.
Strengths
i. Questions the control and ownership of the media.
ii. Uses theory and research to agitate for change in the real world.
iii. It is based on politics and action-oriented.
Weaknesses
i. When the theory is subjected to scientific verification, it mostly uses innovative but controversial methodologies of research.
ii. Critical studies lack scientific audit as it is carried out on a subjective basis.
iii. In many cases, it is too political, and any call for action becomes subjective.
Cultural Studies Theory
Media, communication, and technology cannot be complete without the inclusion of cultural aspect as they are known to affect the way people relate to the everyday life. The media influences how we make sense of our lives and the social world around us. It modifies and adjusts the view we have for ourselves, how we relate to others, and the self-image we have for our body. Culture refers to the learned behavior of a population in a social structure. Cultural theories seek to represent ideologically how there has been a struggle with and within media, and how there has been a stretch in the relationship between maintenance of social order, media, and power ( Seiler, n.d.) .
The researchers that dealt with the critique of the culture did so by basing their arguments on two grounds. The first is that communication is a foundation of the society. Secondly, for a democracy to work, a connection is a necessary condition ( Seiler, n.d.) . The times have changed since humans founded the communication as a means of life. We have transformed from depending on mediation to sitting in front of an electronic form of device to gather information. The cultural studies have therefore tried to concentrate on the employment of media in the creation of varying types of learned behaviors that shape our everyday life (Naveed, 2017).
The different theories of media that encompass culture can be shown in several ways. The cultural theorists often employ the use of dichotomy to differentiate their argument perceptions. The first part is the microscopic ones which focus on how people and societies use the media to form and foster systems of culture that affects everyday life ( What is Cultural Studies?, n.d.) . The theories underlying this definition are usually known as cultural studies theory. On the other hand, macroscopic viewpoints emphasize how the media institutions are formed within capitalist systems of economy. The main description that this standpoint brings is how the media is controlled by the elites who sometimes use it to earn profits in the society and to wield influence.
The theories contained in this section often refer to the elites as applying hegemonic culture to maintain the status quo in the order of society. The term hegemonic relate to the way of life that is imposed from outside or above and is used to serve the interests of the people in dominant positions in the social hierarchy. The other form of such theories involves political economy which focuses on the use of economic power by the elites to exploit media organizations. Cultural studies, however, concentrate less on the long-term effects of media on the social order but on the impacts it has on the lives of individuals in the society.
Thus, the theories are microscopic as they deal with only single units of the social structure-the individual. They deemphasize broader issues regarding the social hierarchy in favor of the questions that deal with the daily lives of the average citizens. The theories of political economy are on the other hand macroscopic as they are more concerned with the how the media affects the social order rather than developing a detailed explanation of how it impacts an individual.
The researchers that deal with the microscopic form of cultural studies choose to interrupt the normal activities of the world that is instantly around them. Most of them view social world as a continuously intriguing place. They are fascinated by the ordinary, yet seemingly insignificant, routine. According to them, the experience we have of the daily life and that of reality is a synthetic social construction that we in one way or another maintain with only infrequent negligible cessations ( Seiler, n.d.) . They seek to understand the result of incorporating mass media into the routines of the everyday life and making it play a critical role in influencing our experience of the social realm. However, like the critical theory, the cultural studies theories have strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
i. Asks the big questions on the importance of the media
ii. The theory focuses on the development of people based on their perception of the social world.
iii. Revers abilities of consumption of content of the audience members.
Weaknesses
i. It is short of explanatory power at the macroscopic level.
ii. The focus on the individual is narrower than the societal effects
iii. It is based on subjective observations and cannot be verified scientifically
iv. It employs controversial methodologies of research when exposed to scientific verification.
References
Fuchs, C. (2009). Critical Theory of Information, Communication, Media, Technology. Retrieved 8 March 2018, from http://glossarium.bitrum.unileon.es/Home/teoria-critica-de-la-informacion/critical-theory-of-information
Naveed, F. (2017). The Emergence of Critical and Cultural Theories. Mass Communication Talk. Retrieved 8 March 2018, from http://www.masscommunicationtalk.com/emergence-critical-cultural-theories.html
Seiler, R. (n.d.). Media Studies, Critical Theory, and Cultural Studies. Retrieved 8 March 2018, from http://people.ucalgary.ca/~rseiler/hardt.htm
What is Cultural Studies? (n.d.). Retrieved 8 March 2018, from http://culturalstudies.web.unc.edu/resources-2/what-is-cultural-studies/
