A CRITIQUE OF CRITICAL CULTURAL THEORY developed out of a graduate Communications Seminar on Critical Cultural Studies. We began by reading the philosophers from the Frankfurt School, who developed the field of critical theory, beginning with the work of Max Horkeimer and Theodor W. Adorno, leading members of the first generation of critical theorists. Then, we read selected writings from Jurgen Habermas, the major cultural theorist from the 1960s to the present. As we read essays from each theorist, we wrote critical papers describing their theories and critiquing them. The goal was to apply these theories to any subject, since critical cultural theory is an approach to thinking about society and culture, rather than a particular discipline. This book features an overview of these classical critical thinkers who set the stage for the development of additional theory and research in the field.