On critical theory
Key takeaways from the book 'Cynical Theories' and why teachers should care
I entered the POMO rabbit hole a couple of years back with an audio of Stephen Hicks’ Explaining Postmodernism, believing that a) I would be able to casually listen on my way to work and b) that the book would explain postmodernism. I didn’t really work out between me and Hicks. I did give it another go on Kindle and I made a dent. I will return to it, but as an alternative I was put onto Cynical Theories by Pluckrose and Lindsay and I have to say it’s far more palatable - even tasty!
I originally went down this path to improve my understanding of critical theory and the ways it can apply to my teaching. The little I knew had always opened new worlds for gifted and bright students who were challenged by adopting critical ‘lenses'. Nothing engages a bunch of bright girls like Judith Butler’s ideas about the performance of gender!
Cynical Theories does a pretty good job of actually outlining the development and fundamentals of theories that anyone who is politically engaged on Twitter might have a cursory or even detailed knowledge of. Fields like Critical Race, Gender and Queer theory are contextualised and explained really simply, initially without bias. For this reason, I would recommend it to teachers regardless of their ideological persuasions. I’ll give an example of a model discussion scaffold for A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, using critical theory to ‘problematize’ a text:
Is Blanche a victim of society?
Is Blanche is a Queer icon?
Is Blanche’s gender just a performance?
Does Blanche choose to perform her gender in this way?
Does she gain from this performance?
How is this problematic?
What of her biological sex?
Did you notice what I did there with that last question? I problematized gender theory. Under Theory, this element would have no place in the discussion - it would be vehemently rejected because it falls outside the dogma of social construction - and this is partly what the book is about. While the explanations of Theory are for the most part more neutrally presented than I had expected, the authors do expose many chinks in the identity armours that these theories provide. Some discussions are decidedly off the table.
I’m going to try to condense the ideological angle of the book. Critical Theory has become a vehicle for identity activism. Part of the problem - and this is something that has diluted feminism - is that these identities are infinitely divisible and divisive, with the far left taking on the traits of dogmatism and narrow-mindedness that they claim to abhor in the right. This may all seem to be a bit esoteric and, well, theoretical, but the real harm comes when identity politics stands in for the kinds of actual activism, educational policy and even teaching methods that would create material change. This tweet marked a particularly concerning turn.
So in addition to the book being useful for broadening teacher knowledge in the Humanities, I think it’s worth a look for any teacher, educationalist or leader who doesn’t like to let the facts get in the way of a good ideology. Do the ‘carceral pedagogy’ wars improve learning outcomes? It terms of opportunity/cost, is this a good way to expend intellectual resources? Probably not. And I’m probably preaching to the choir. It’s also worth thinking more rationally about how trends in Theory might be shaping policy, curricula and even text choices as I’ve written about here. Whether we know it or not, Postmodern Theory is shaping education and it’s time to ask whether it really is enabling or just a distraction from true social justice and practical action on equality.
If you’ve got any further reading recommendations for me, I’d love to hear from you on Twitter or in the comments.
Very interesting piece!
I wanted to recommend some other earlier critiques of postmodernism. Michael Albert of of socialist-anarchist Z Magazine wrote & compiled several articles, interviews and debates on the topic of what postmodernism is and what it means when applying pomo theory to social justice movements grounded in material reality that aim to improve material conditions.
Link: https://zcomm.org/science-wars/
Also, Karla Mantilla from the radical feminist-leaning off our backs magazine collective wrote this prescient article in 1999. Here's part of her intro:
"I have been trying to see not just what postmodern theorists say about their theory, but more importantly, how postmodern theory functions in the world–what are the effects of adopting postmodern thinking and theorizing. What became clear to me after some reading was that the overarching effect of postmodernism is to silence thinking and speaking, both personally and politically. I am aware that this is a rather outrageous statement given the attention postmodern theory pays to privileging the voices of marginalized people, to giving voice to those previously unheard, and to investigating the silences embedded in the dominant discourse (to sling a little postmodern verbiage myself). However, in a deep reading of how postmodern theory functions, I find that these claims are little more than lip service. The important thing to see is not what postmodernism says it does, but how it actually functions."
https://sisterhoodispowerful.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/let-them-eat-text-the-real-politics-of-postmodernism/
I actually found Hicks' audiobook fascinating. I've listened to it twice and read through the physical book once. There's an awful lot to digest there. I think that "cynical theories" gets a lot of their info from Hicks' book.
I'm reluctant to recommend "cynical theories" these days because one of the authors, James Lindsay, has gone off the deep end.
I recommend Richard Delgado's "Critical Race Theory" because he's one of the originators of CRT and you can expect the most charitable interpretation. His presentation is generally pre-postmodern, but he speaks favorably of many of the more troubling mutations of the original theory, so, IMO, it's hard to defend CRT on the basis that it's only an "obscure law school theory".