Abstract:
This article seeks to reflect upon the place of resistance in a conceptual-theoretical sense, hereto articulating so called critical theory of society, based upon diagnosis brought forward specially by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, and the social theory of Lélia Gonzalez. By rooting its viewpoint in these two theoretical perspectives, conceived in very different historical and social contexts, I aim to address how they complement themselves and, as such, enhance the critical view on contemporary authoritarian manifestations. Notwithstanding the various changes taking place during the last decades, it thus presupposes that a number of key elements are constitutive of how the forms of repression and marginalization express themselves in capitalist societies, (re)producing an array of inequalities, foremost those of ethnic and racial kind. Hence, fostering resistance remains a vital quality to compose the horizon of intellectual practice of the social sciences.
Keywords:
Critical theory; Resistance; Social theory; Racism and anti-racism; Forms of domination