Abstract

VERA, Marla. Fraser and Benhabib’s feminist criticism of Critical Theory. Andamios [online]. 2023, vol.20, n.52, pp.177-197.  Epub Nov 17, 2023. ISSN 2594-1917.  https://doi.org/10.29092/uacm.v20i52.1003.

Nancy Fraser and Seyla Benhabib are feminist authors who have incorporated Critical Theory into their work. Based on a normative critique of discursive theory and generalization in recognition theory, both authors analyze the reach and limitations of Critical Theory as one that seeks to reconcile the scientific, the pragmatic and the social research to offer prospective solutions to social injustice and to unveil the struggle for emancipation in social movements. This text focuses on the authors criticism of Critical Theory’s masculinization, that of Jürgen Habermas’s theory of communicative action and Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition, to identify the scope of these as a social theory that could allow visibility and clarification of collective identities of feminism, as well as the emancipation of the feminist struggle.

Keywords : Feminism; Critical Theory; generalization; individualization.