Crisis? Capitalism is Doing Very Well. How is Critical Theory?

Social critique in the late twentieth century has inadvertently given impetus to neoliberal, flexible, 'networked' capitalismclaimed Luc Boltanski and Eve Chiapello in The New Spirit of Capitalism. Is Critical Theory in Frankfurt School tradition guilty of such a charge? What are the analytical tools at its disposal for mounting a critique of neoliberal capitalism? After addressing the crisis of capitalism as a distinct object of critique, this article examines the way some of the most valuable achievements of Critical Theory have depleted its resources for a critique of contemporary capitalism. It then offers a model of critique able to target both injustices rooted in the unequal distribution of power (relational domination) and those rooted in the operative logic of capital reproduction (systemic domination) by focusing attention on the key structural contradictions of contemporary capitalism.