Considering the Theoretical "Status" of Critique

The hereby proposed presentation shall focus on a very specific aspect of the relation or discussion concerning modernity and critique. The aim is to, considering the multiplicities of viewpoints addressing the centrality or relevance of modernity as a centerpiece of sociological interpretation, understand to which extent a predominant and (partially) normative concept of modernity can be taken as a point of departure to define the origins of (dialectical) critique while, at the same time, distancing oneself from the hegemony of modernization theory.

Therefore sociological theory as critical theory should be able to establish a profound and rigorous dialogue with distinct theoretical cornerstones, and here is where the interest lies in bringing to the debate standpoints from peripheral origins, focusing specially on the contribution of the Brazilian (although from a European and migrant background) critical theorist Roberto Schwarz. One has to take into account that a significant amount of his interpretations was written from the 1960s until the 1970s, and therefore precedes the more or less recent wave of post- as well as decolonial critique.

It is certain that the predominance of European colonization in so called South America was tantamount to the pertinence of recovering modernity - carried foremost under the attributes of civilization and enlightenment - as a fundament for economic, political and social conceptions. Hence, as a centerpiece of the discussion should stand Schwarz's effort to work out the specific and distinct traits of the so called modernization or state-formation process in Brazil and how this enables us to consider the particularities and generalities of a critical perspective based upon various academic disciplines. This dialogue of critique(s) is appraised as a possibility for putting present sociological theory under 'cross-examination'.