THE CHALLENGE OF PROGRESS
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CURRENT PERSPECTIVES IN
SOCIAL THEORY
Series Editor: Harry F. Dahms
Recent Volumes:
Volume 23: Social Theory as Politics in Knowledge, 2005, Edited by
Jennifer M. Lehmann
Volume 24: Globalization between the Cold War and Neo-imperialism,
2006, Edited by Jennifer M. Lehmann and Harry F. Dahms
Volume 25: No Social Science without Critical Theory, 2008, Edited by
Harry F. Dahms
Volume 26: Nature, Knowledge and Negation, 2009, Edited by
Harry F. Dahms
Volume 27: Theorizing the Dynamics of Social Processes, 2010, Edited by
Harry F. Dahms and Lawrence Hazelrigg
Volume 28: The Vitality of Critical Theory, 2011, by Harry F. Dahms
Volume 29: The Diversity of Social Theories, 2011, Edited by
Harry F. Dahms
Volume 30: Theorizing Modern Society as a Dynamic Process, 2012,
Edited by Harry F. Dahms and Lawrence Hazelrigg
Volume 31: Social Theories of History and Histories of Social Theory, 2013,
Edited by Harry F. Dahms
Volume 32: Mediations of Social Life in the 21st Century, 2014, Edited by
Harry F. Dahms
Volume 33: Globalization, Critique and Social Theory: Diagnoses and
Challenges, 2015, Edited by Harry F. Dahms
Volume 34: States and Citizens: Accommodation, Facilitation and
Resistance to Globalization, 2015, Edited by Jon Shefner
Volume 35: Reconstructing Social Theory, History and Practice, Edited by
Harry F. Dahms and Eric R. Lybeck
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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
EDITOR
Harry F. Dahms
University of Tennessee (Sociology)
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Robert J. Antonio Timothy Luke
University of Kansas (Sociology) Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University
Lawrence Hazelrigg (Political Science)
Florida State University (Sociology)
EDITORIAL BOARD
Sarah Amsler Norman K. Denzin
University of Lincoln (Educational University of Illinois at
Research and Development) Urbana Champaign (Sociology)
Kevin B. Anderson Arnold Farr
University of California, Santa University of Kentucky (Philosophy)
Barbara (Sociology)
Nancy Fraser
Stanley Aronowitz New School for Social Research
City University of New York (Political Science)
Graduate Center (Sociology)
Martha Gimenez
Molefi Kete Asante University of Colorado Boulder
Temple University (African-American (Sociology)
Studies)
Robert Goldman
David Ashley Lewis and Clark College (Sociology
University of Wyoming (Sociology) and Anthropology)
Robin Celikates Mark Gottdiener
University of Amsterdam State University of New York at
(Philosophy) Buffalo (Sociology)
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Douglas Kellner Lawrence Scaff
University of California Los Wayne State University (Political
Angeles (Philosophy) Science)
Daniel Krier Steven Seidman
Iowa State University (Sociology) State University of New York at
Albany (Sociology)
Lauren Langman
Loyola University (Sociology)
Helmut Staubmann
Leopold Franzens University,
Eric R. Lybeck
Innsbruck (Sociology)
University of Exeter (Sociology)
John O’Neill Alexander Stoner
York University (Sociology) Salisbury University (Sociology)
Paul Paolucci Stephen Turner
Eastern Kentucky University The University of South Florida
(Sociology) (Philosophy)
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CURRENT PERSPECTIVES IN SOCIAL THEORY
VOLUME 36
THE CHALLENGE OF
PROGRESS: THEORY
BETWEEN CRITIQUE AND
IDEOLOGY
EDITED BY
HARRY F. DAHMS
University of Tennessee, USA
United Kingdom North America Japan
India Malaysia China
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First edition 2020
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This volume is dedicated to the memory of
Moishe Postone (1942 2018), member of the
Editorial Board from 2002 to 2018 and
contributor to volumes 19 and 33.
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CONTENTS
List of Contributors xi
Introduction
Harry F. Dahms 1
PART I
IDENTIFYING THE CHALLENGE: A CRITICAL
DISCUSSION OF THE END OF PROGRESS:
DECOLONIZING THE NORMATIVE FOUNDATIONS
OF CRITICAL THEORY (2016), BY AMY ALLEN
History, Critique, and Progress: Amy Allen’s “End of Progress”
and the Normative Grounding of Critical Theory
Reha Kadakal 15
Inheriting Critical Theory: A Review of Amy Allen’s
The End of Progress: Decolonizing the Normative
Foundations of Critical Theory
George Steinmetz 37
Back to Adorno: Critical Theory’s Problem of
Normative Grounding
Karen Ng 49
Decolonizing Critical Theory
Kevin Olson 61
Progress, Normativity, and the “Decolonization” of
Critical Theory: Reply to Critics
Amy Allen 73
PART II
ASSESSING THE CHALLENGE: PROGRESS,
POLITICS, AND IDEOLOGY
Nietzsche after Charlottesville
Robert J. Antonio 95
ix
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x CONTENTS
“How Can [We] Not Know?” Blade Runner as Cinematic
Landmark in Critical Thought
Lawrence Hazelrigg 111
Sociology at the End of History: Profession, Vocation and
Critical Practice
Daniel M. Harrison 133
PART III
CONFRONTING THE CHALLENGE: THE DYNAMICS
OF PROGRESS IN THE MODERN AGE
Las Vegas as the Anthropocene: The Neoliberal City as
Desertification All the Way Down
Timothy W. Luke 159
Exchanging Social Change for Social Class: Traditional
Marriage Proposals as Status and Scrip
Patricia Arend and Katherine Comeau 179
Sociology’s Emancipation from Philosophy: The Influence of
Francis Bacon on Émile Durkheim
Shawn Van Valkenburgh 199
About the Contributors 217
Index 221
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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Amy Allen Department of Philosophy, Penn State
University, USA
Robert J. Antonio Department of Sociology, University of
Kansas, USA
Patricia Arend Department of Behavioral Sciences,
Fitchburg State University, USA
Katherine Comeau Department of Sociology, University of Notre
Dame, USA
Daniel M. Harrison Department of Government, Criminology,
and Sociology, Lander University, USA
Lawrence Hazelrigg Department of Sociology, Florida State
University, USA
Reha Kadakal Sociology Program, California State
University Channel Islands, USA
Timothy W. Luke Department of Political Science, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University,
USA
Karen Ng Department of Philosophy, Vanderbilt
University, USA
Kevin Olson Department of Political Science, University of
California, USA
George Steinmetz Department of Sociology, University of
Michigan, USA
Shawn Van Valkenburgh Department of Sociology, University of
California, USA
xi
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