“Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum: Summary and Critique

Introduction: “Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum

“Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum first appeared in 2015 in the journal Constellations (Volume 22, Issue 3). The article critically examines the emancipatory aspirations of the Frankfurt School’s Critical Theory, as envisioned by Horkheimer and Adorno, in addressing class, racism, and colonialism. While the Frankfurt School made significant strides in analyzing modern domination, Baum critiques their Eurocentric focus, which largely neglected colonial racism and anti-colonial struggles. Drawing on thinkers like Edward Said, Frantz Fanon, and Lucius Outlaw, Baum argues for an expansion of Critical Theory to address the global interplay of racism and capitalism, emphasizing that colonial and racial domination are integral to understanding modernity. A pivotal insight from the article highlights Horkheimer’s assertion: “As true as it is that one can understand anti-Semitism only from our society, as true it appears to me to become that by now society itself can be properly understood only through Antisemitism.” Baum contends that this framework should extend to all forms of racism, calling for a decolonization of Critical Theory that integrates both historical and contemporary struggles against racial and colonial oppression. This work holds importance in literary theory by urging a reorientation of critical frameworks to inclusively confront race, identity, and colonial histories as essential elements of social critique.

Summary of “Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum

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Theoretical Terms/Concepts in “Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum

Theoretical Term/Concept	Explanation	Relevance in Article
Critical Theory	A framework from the Frankfurt School aiming to analyze and challenge structures of domination in capitalist societies.	Used as the foundation for analyzing racism and colonialism, highlighting both its strengths and limitations (p. 421).
Decolonization	The process of dismantling colonial power structures and addressing their historical and cultural legacies.	Proposed as necessary for expanding Critical Theory to address colonial racism and global injustices (p. 427).
Recognition Order	The norms governing how social groups are valued or devalued within societies.	Honneth’s concept is used to show how modern capitalism organizes societies along racialized lines of recognition and misrecognition (p. 428).
Anti-Semitism	Hostility toward Jews, analyzed by Horkheimer and Adorno as central to understanding societal domination under capitalism.	Critiqued as narrowly Eurocentric but providing valuable insights into the psychodynamics of racism (p. 423).
Colonial Racism	The racial hierarchies and ideologies used to justify colonial domination and exploitation.	Highlighted as a blind spot in Frankfurt School analyses, necessitating a broader critical framework (p. 427).
Mimesis	The psychological process of imitation and adaptation to others.	Used to explain how differences are repressed or distorted in racist ideologies (p. 425).
False Projection	A psychological mechanism where individuals project internal fears onto external groups, fostering stereotypes.	Central to understanding how racism arises and sustains societal domination (p. 426).
Triadic Racial Schema	A model distinguishing dominant groups (e.g., Aryans), subordinate groups (e.g., Blacks), and exterminated groups (e.g., Jews).	Used to analyze global racial orders and their relation to capitalist exploitation (p. 424).
Instrumental Rationality	The Enlightenment-era focus on technical efficiency and control over nature, critiqued for fostering domination.	Explored as a double-edged sword, facilitating human progress but also contributing to authoritarianism and racism (p. 423).
Genealogical Analysis	Investigating the historical construction of concepts, identities, and power structures.	Suggested as a method to trace the origins and impacts of racial ideologies and colonial practices (p. 431).
Hermeneutic Approach	A method emphasizing interpretation of lived experiences and cultural meanings.	Proposed to complement genealogical analysis in understanding racialized identities (p. 431).
Historical Injustice	Past actions of oppression and exploitation that have lingering effects on descendants in the present.	Framed as a critical focus for addressing legacies of racism and colonialism (p. 432).
Working Through the Past	Adorno’s concept of confronting historical atrocities through reflection and education to prevent their repetition.	Applied to racism and colonialism as a necessary step for societal reconciliation and justice (p. 433).
Racialized Identity	Socially constructed identities based on perceived racial differences, shaping both self-understanding and social stratification.	Analyzed as both a source of oppression and cultural meaning, requiring a dual approach to address (p. 431).
Racial States	States structured around managing racial hierarchies and conflicts.	Highlighted as a product of colonialism and capitalism, with ongoing implications for modern societies (p. 428).
Emancipation	The process of achieving freedom from domination, including overcoming racial, class, and cultural oppressions.	Posited as the ultimate goal of a revised Critical Theory (p. 426).

Contribution of “Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum to Literary Theory/Theories

• Expansion of Critical Theory Beyond Eurocentrism:
  • Challenges the Eurocentric focus of Frankfurt School Critical Theory, particularly its neglect of colonial racism and anti-colonial resistance (p. 421).
  • Proposes a broader, historically attuned framework for understanding racial hierarchies and their cultural representations (p. 427).
• Intersection of Race and Class in Modernity:
  • Highlights the interplay between capitalism and racial domination, emphasizing how class and race intersect in literary and cultural narratives (p. 424).
  • Draws on Frantz Fanon’s critique to “stretch Marxian analysis” to address the colonial dimensions of exploitation and oppression (p. 427).
• Critique of Enlightenment Ideals in Literature:
  • Analyzes how instrumental rationality, a hallmark of Enlightenment thought, appears as both a tool for human emancipation and a mechanism for domination in cultural and literary contexts (p. 423).
  • Provides insights into how literature reflects the double-edged nature of Enlightenment values, including their role in sustaining colonial ideologies (p. 425).
• Application of Mimesis to Representation of Difference:
  • Uses Adorno and Horkheimer’s concept of mimesis to explain how literature can both represent and distort cultural and racial differences (p. 425).
  • Suggests that regressive mimesis, rooted in false projection, informs racist stereotypes and tropes in literary texts (p. 426).
• The Politics of Recognition in Literature:
  • Introduces Axel Honneth’s concept of recognition to analyze how literature portrays the struggles of marginalized groups for acknowledgment and equality (p. 428).
  • Explores how literature can reflect and challenge societal recognition orders, particularly those tied to race and identity (p. 431).
• Historical Injustice and Literary Memory:
  • Engages Adorno’s concept of “working through the past” to examine how literature confronts historical injustices, including slavery, colonialism, and the Holocaust (p. 433).
  • Highlights literature’s role in preserving memory and addressing the effacement of historical injustices in capitalist societies (p. 432).
• Triadic Racial Schema in Narrative Structure:
  • Proposes a triadic racial schema (dominant group, subordinate group, and exterminated group) as a lens for analyzing racial dynamics in literature and narrative structures (p. 424).
  • Encourages re-evaluating literary depictions of racial hierarchies within global and historical contexts (p. 428).
• Decolonizing the Canon:
  • Advocates for revisiting and decolonizing traditional literary canons to include narratives that address colonial racism and global injustices (p. 427).
  • Highlights the importance of incorporating voices and perspectives from racialized and colonized identities into critical and literary theory (p. 431).
• Hermeneutics of Racialized Identity:
  • Suggests combining genealogical and hermeneutic approaches to interpret racialized identities as both cultural constructs and sources of meaning in literary texts (p. 431).
  • Encourages a dual reading of literature that considers both historical constructions of identity and lived experiences of race (p. 431).
• Emphasis on Reconciliation and Difference:
  • Draws on Adorno’s vision of an emancipated society to suggest that literature should reconcile differences rather than erase them, promoting respect for diverse identities and histories (p. 426).

Examples of Critiques Through “Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum

Literary Work	Theoretical Lens from Baum	Critique Example
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad	– Critique of Eurocentrism – Colonial racism and capitalist domination	Explores how Conrad’s depiction of Africa reflects colonial ideologies and Eurocentric perspectives, portraying Africa as a site of barbarism to justify European domination (Baum, p. 424). Challenges the racial schema of colonizer/colonized.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe	– Hermeneutics of racialized identity – Postcolonial recognition	Analyzes the struggle of Igbo society against the imposition of colonial ideologies. Explores the lived experience of racialized identities and their cultural meaning in resisting colonial domination (Baum, p. 428).
Beloved by Toni Morrison	– Historical injustice and working through the past – Racial trauma in capitalist modernity	Examines how Morrison’s narrative confronts the legacy of slavery, highlighting the importance of historical memory and addressing intergenerational trauma linked to racial injustice (Baum, p. 433).
The Tempest by William Shakespeare	– Colonial racism and early modern capitalist structures – Mimesis and representation of difference	Uses Baum’s insights to analyze Caliban as a racialized figure representing colonial subjects. Examines how the text reflects early colonial ideologies and constructs racial difference to justify domination (Baum, p. 425).

Criticism Against “Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum

• Eurocentric Focus of the Frankfurt School
  • Despite Baum’s attempt to recover the critical potential of Frankfurt School theories, critics may argue that the school’s foundational Eurocentrism remains a limitation (Baum, p. 424).
  • The reliance on Horkheimer and Adorno’s theories may perpetuate a Western bias, failing to fully engage with non-European epistemologies.
• Insufficient Engagement with Non-European Thinkers
  • While Baum draws on figures like Fanon and Outlaw, the work might not sufficiently integrate perspectives from other decolonial theorists, particularly from Asia, Latin America, or Indigenous traditions (Baum, p. 427).
• Overemphasis on Historical Racism
  • Critics may argue that the focus on historical racism and colonialism limits its applicability to contemporary forms of racial injustice and intersectional oppression in globalized contexts (Baum, p. 431).
• Abstract Theoretical Framework
  • Baum’s reliance on abstract concepts like “mimesis” and “recognition” may make the work less accessible for activists and practitioners seeking concrete strategies for combating racism and colonialism (Baum, p. 425).
• Neglect of Gender and Intersectionality
  • While Baum acknowledges intersecting forms of oppression, the work could be critiqued for not giving enough prominence to gender, sexuality, or other axes of identity beyond race and class (Baum, p. 428).
• Limited Engagement with Non-Western Literary Traditions
  • The framework focuses on critiquing Western modernity but offers limited tools for analyzing non-Western texts or cultural traditions (Baum, p. 426).
• Dependency on Psychoanalytic Concepts
  • The use of psychoanalysis, particularly in Adorno’s work, could be critiqued for being outdated or incompatible with contemporary critiques of race and colonialism (Baum, p. 430).

Representative Quotations from “Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum with Explanation

Quotation	Explanation
“The critical theorists’ account of racism was Eurocentric and too narrowly focused on anti-Semitism.”	Highlights the Frankfurt School’s limitations in addressing global racial and colonial dynamics beyond European contexts, emphasizing the need for decolonizing their framework.
“Critical Theory itself needs to be decolonized.”	Advocates for expanding Critical Theory by integrating perspectives that address colonialism, racism, and global inequality in modern society.
“Modern capitalism has never been one-dimensionally class-divided… racialized status hierarchies are integral.”	Connects Marxist analysis to racialized hierarchies, showing how capitalism’s inequalities are shaped by race, not just class.
“For the Nazis, ‘the blacks must be kept in their place, but the Jews must be wiped from the face of the earth.’”	Demonstrates Horkheimer and Adorno’s limited but provocative racial schema, suggesting a hierarchy of racial oppression within Nazism and raising questions about its global relevance.
“Modern racism can be comprehended adequately only through a critical examination of modern capitalist society.”	Baum reformulates Horkheimer’s analysis, connecting the development of racism with the structures and ideologies of modern capitalism.
“Colonialism and imperialism have not settled their debt to us once they have withdrawn their flag and their police.”	Echoes Fanon’s assertion of the ongoing impact of colonialism, emphasizing the need for reparative justice and a thorough critique of colonial legacies.
“Horkheimer and Adorno failed to appreciate how racism, including colonial racism, has been a formative feature.”	Critiques the Frankfurt School for neglecting the historical centrality of colonialism and racism in shaping global modernity and capitalist development.
“An emancipated society… would not be a unitary state, but the reconciliation of differences.”	Reflects Adorno’s vision of a society where differences are respected without hierarchy, contrasting with the homogenizing tendencies of oppressive regimes.
“The task of overcoming racist degradation… is integrally linked with the goal of undoing the conditions that foster prejudice.”	Emphasizes that systemic racism must be addressed by dismantling political and economic systems that perpetuate inequality.
“Historical racial injustice demands acknowledgement, but no reparations could fully compensate for the damage done.”	Acknowledges the profound harm caused by systemic racism and colonialism while advocating for reparative justice as a step toward reconciliation.

Suggested Readings: “Decolonizing Critical Theory” by Bruce Baum

1. Baum, Bruce. “On the Political Sociology of Intersectional Equality and Difference: Insights from Axel Honneth’s Recognition Theory.” Social Theory and Practice, vol. 48, no. 2, 2022, pp. 197–234. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/48747299. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
2. Morgan, Marcia, 1970-. The Affect of Dissident Language and Aesthetic Emancipation at the Margins: A Possible Dialogue between Theodor W. Adorno and Julia Kristeva. no. 1, 2016, pp. 167–91. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.31637736. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
3. MILLS, CHARLES W. “CRITICIZING CRITICAL THEORY.” Critical Theory in Critical Times: Transforming the Global Political and Economic Order, edited by PENELOPE DEUTSCHER and CRISTINA LAFONT, Columbia University Press, 2017, pp. 233–50. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/deut18150.15. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
4. Kim, Sue J. “Introduction: Decolonizing Narrative Theory.” Journal of Narrative Theory, vol. 42, no. 3, 2012, pp. 233–47. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24484772. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.