Habermas and Contemporary Society

Over the last four decades Jürgen Habermas has forged an innovative and much-discussed theory of contemporary capitalist society. Building on Max Weber's thesis that the dynamic of capitalism actually erodes individual freedom and the meaningfulness of social life - famously resulting in a culture of 'specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart' - Habermas traces contemporary social conflict to resistance to this dynamic by a variety of social groups. His theory of 'communicative ...