Political view · Left

Critical theory

Examines how power, class, race and gender shape institutions and ideas, and aims to expose and change unjust structures.

Associated with: Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler.

Critical theory sits in the left-libertarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly state-led and leaning libertarian. The clearest positions are strongly state-led on economy, strongly progressive on culture and strongly anti-establishment on institutions.

Where critical theory sits on ten dimensions

This is a broad family of ideas, so real people and parties who hold it differ from the profile below. The dot shows the typical tendency.

💰EconomyStrongly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityLeaning libertarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning globalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentLeaning nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologySlightly tech-cautious
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceLeaning peace-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsStrongly anti-establishment
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly secular
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismLeaning non-interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People active today who fit

Angela Davis American philosopher and activist99%Yanis Varoufakis Greek economist and former finance minister99%Judith Butler American philosopher and gender theorist99%Ta-Nehisi Coates American author and journalist99%

People from history who fit

Pablo Iglesias Spanish politician and co-founder of Podemos99%Eduardo Galeano Uruguayan writer, 1940 to 201599%Edward Said Palestinian-American scholar, 1935 to 200398%Gabriel García Márquez Colombian novelist, 1927 to 201498%

Similar political views

Social ecologyTies the ecological crisis to social hierarchy and proposes directly democratic,…98%Democratic confederalismA stateless, feminist and ecological model of local assemblies federated from below.98%Radical democracyWants more direct participation in decisions, through assemblies, referendums and…98%Anarcho-syndicalismWorkers organize in revolutionary unions that take over industry and run society without…98%

Read more about critical theory

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Books on critical theoryBiographies of Pablo Iglesias

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Views are simplified profiles built from public writings and records, and they are open to debate. Percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.