The End of Progress

A clear, forceful and convincing argument that calls us to question what critical theory is, and perhaps more pressingly, for whom.

Allen’s book does nothing short than reformulate the core questions of critical theory, reconsidering the fundamental relations between history, progress, normativity, and critique.

A careful intervention in the ongoing attempts to establish a critical theory of society associated with the Frankfurt School....particularly adept at detailing how progressive conceptions of Universal History continue to animate normative justifications in this tradition.

The most important recent intervention into current debates about the possible intersections between mainstream Frankfurt School critical theory, postcolonial, and the so-called decolonial thought.

A major contribution to the decolonization of Frankfurt School critical theory.

Christoph Menke, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt:
In her perspicacious and penetrating discussion of major figures of the Frankfurt School, Allen shows how deeply the tradition of critique is entangled with the grand narrative of enlightenment, the myth of the progressive unfolding of reason. Drawing on Adorno and Foucault, she shows the path contemporary critique has to take: the path to radical self-critique.

James Tully, University of Victoria:
I highly recommend this outstanding internal critique of the idea of universal, developmental progress in the critical theory tradition and its role in legitimating Western imperialism by a leading critical theorist. Allen also initiates a promising dialogue with postcolonial theorists who have advanced external critiques, a dialogue oriented to decolonizing normative political theory together.

Richard J. Bernstein, New School for Social Research:
In this engaging, perceptive, and illuminating book, Amy Allen seeks to decolonize Critical Theory. Exposing weaknesses in the normative claims of Habermas, Honneth, and Forst and with a fresh interpretation of Adorno and Foucault, this book is stimulating and provocative for anyone interested in both the limitations and prospects of Critical Theory.

Kevin Olson, University of California, Irvine:
The End of Progress is a beautifully written and engaging critique of critical theory. It challenges basic assumptions of the Frankfurt School to expand our field of view and builds bridges with other genres of critical thinking. This book charts a bold direction that breathes new life into critical theory.

Charles Mills, Northwestern University:
In this courageous and path-breaking text, Allen challenges critical theory to live up to its own pretensions and begin to decolonize itself, starting with its still insufficiently interrogated foundational Euro-progressivist assumptions.

Wendy Brown, University of California, Berkeley:
Amy Allen has performed the long-overdue task of pulling contemporary Frankfurt School theory into the light that postcolonial theory sheds upon its quietude about imperialism and colonialism, its insufficient appreciation of global inequality and differences, and its fetishism and purification of European modernity. While honoring the power of the School's theoretical foundations and insights, she stages a steady and profound encounter with its worldly Others—an encounter that cannot be dismissed.