Critical Theory Stands

Up to Abuses of Power
Jane F. Gilgun

Abuses of power are everywhere, in families, in

communities, in the economic system, and in
government. Critical theory gives a vision and
a language to identify and to stand up to
abuses of power. This article describes critical
theory.

About the Author

Jane F. Gilgun, Ph.D., LICSW, is a professor,

School of Social Work, University of Minnesota,
Twin Cities, USA. See Professor Gilgun’s other
articles, books, and children’s stories on
Amazon Kindle, iBooks, and scribd.com for a
variety of e-readers and mobile devices.
 Critical Theory Stands
Up to Abuses of Power
Abuses of power are everywhere, in
government, in economic systems, in the
workplace, and in families.

Critical theory gives both a vision and a

vocabulary with which to talk about power, its
uses and abuses. Critical theorists want to
promote fairness, justice, and care, and they
want to undermine abuses of power and the
unequal distribution of money, status, and
worth wherever these abuses appear.

They make judgments about power and its use

and misuse using a values framework that
revolves around justice and care. There are
many varieties of critical theory and no one
way to do actions based on critical theory.

Power, Fairness, and Care

Critical theorists look at power issues and then

judge the fairness and care that exists in
various systems, such as government and
business. Business people and government
manipulate world-wide systems, such as the
economic system. Critical theorists asks who
benefit from the unequal distribution of power
and who are they taking advantage of. In
economic systems, the concern of critical
theorists involves who makes lots of money
and who doesn’t, how people make money,
and whether and how they take advantage of
others to make money.

When heads of banks and businesses make

millions of dollars and the people who work for
them can’t pay their bills, this is exploitation.
When heads of banks and businesses make
millions and do not pay dividends to
stockholders, this is exploitation. People abuse
their power when they take what they want
and do not think about or do not care about
consequences of others.

Besides applications to systems like the

economic system, critical theorists apply these
ideas to interpersonal relationships. Child
sexual abuse is a typical issue where there is
abuse of power. In child sexual abuse, older,
stronger, more knowledgeable persons take
advantage of children in order to experience
emotional and sexual gratification.

Claims of Benevolence
People who abuse power through systems such
as government often claim that they are
looking out for everyone’s interests, not just
their own and not just the interests of people
they think are like them. The so-called “trickle
down” theory that many conservatives appear
to believe in is an example. In trickle-down
theory, certain privileged people make millions.
The rest of us benefit because the super-rich
buy the goods and services that the rest of us
produce.

The super rich and powerful get the best of

everything: food, mansions, clothing, boats,
art, private schools, you name it. The rest of
us scrape by. The super rich and powerful tell
the rest of us that they deserve it because they
are special and we don’t deserved it because
we are not special. We are unworthy.

Persons who abuse power on the interpersonal

level typically make similar claims.
Perpetrators of child sexual abuse, for
example, often claim that the desire for sex is
mutual and that the children enjoy the sex.
Children often don’t tell because they are
afraid that other people will tell them they
asked for it and they enjoyed it. Survivors of
child sexual abuse are right to feat that they
will be labeled as being at fault, just the way
poor people are afraid of being labeled as
unworthy and at fault. Other people tell them
that all the time in many different ways.

Critical Race Theory

Critical race theory looks at race and power,

again using the values of justice and care.
They call upon laws and social contracts that
state that all persons are equal. They know
well that some people have more power,
money, and status than others. This unequal
distribution of these goods often is related to
race.

Critical race theory seeks to liberate persons of

all races from the subordinated statuses under
which they live their lives.

African American scholars in the US first put

forth critical race theory. Scholars then applied
it more widely to other races, including the
white race. Colonized and formerly colonized
people find critical race theory to be of great
help to them as they work toward equal
treatment and equal access to opportunity,
income, and social status.
Counter-Stories

An important idea in critical race theory is

counter-story, where those who seek a more
equal distribution of money, housing, and food
put forth subordinated points of view and
experiences that add color to typically white-
washed views on various dimensions of social
life.

For example, Barack Obama’s entire life is a

counter-story to views and practices that
create conditions where African Americans are
viewed as inferior and incapable of competing
intellectually, politically, and socially with white
American men.

Critical theory originated in Germany in

response to the rise of Hitler, who embodies
the abuse of power through manipulating the
fears of German citizens and German social
and economic systems.

Horkheimer and Ardono are two of several

social philosophers who were so concerned
with Hitler’s massive abuse of power that they
formulated critical theory. They lived and
worked in Frankfurt, Germany, and their work
became known as the Frankfurt School. They
left Germany when they learned that Hitler
planned to kill them. If this is not abuse of
power, then what is?

The Uses of Critical Theory

in the U.S.

The United States was fortunate enough to

become the home for these critical theorists.
Their ideas have helped U.S. citizens to stand
up to the abuses of power that the government
perpetuates. The U.S. Constitution and Bill of
Rights are consistent with critical theory. The
combination of critical theory and the laws of
the U.S. are powerful starting points to counter
the abuse of power that characterizes many
governmental policies and actions.

The expert use of critical theory requires

critical thinking, which means several things
including and analysis of whether justice,
fairness, and care operates in the distribution
of money, material goods, and status in terms
of justice, fairness, and care. Critical theorists
also identify strategies that people use in the
abuse of their power that gains them money,
material goods and statuses. Critical theorists
identify and challenge wide-spread ideas that
some people are more worthy than others and
deserve the money, material goods, and
statuses that they gain through exploiting
others.
Critical theorists base their concern for others
on fundamental values of human decency:
justice and care.

People who use critical theory propose

solutions to unequal distribution of money,
material goods, and status so that the ideals of
the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights are
upheld.