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New Horizons of Critical Theory is unique in tracing a central process of immanent criticism and rethinking of critical theory over the past two decades. Although starting from Jürgen Habermas' communicative turn in critical theory, it follows an alternative interpretation which is made possible by the introduction of a more specific social scientific rather than philosophical mode of reasoning. Its contribution lies in articulating the concepts of collective learning and triple contingency (the threefold structure of communication) and bringing them to bear on a range of concerns of contemporary relevance. The critical theory approach to collective identity, social movements, public communication or discourse, the role of the public in communication societies, the construction of society, and evolution is clarified and also applied to the South African liberation movement, the discourse about environmental responsibility, world creation through risk communication, and the models of cosmopolitanism guiding the learning processes generating the emerging global society. In a series of tightly argued essays, the volume demonstrates central shifts in horizon which inform contemporary critical theory, in part by engaging critically with the work of scholars such as Jürgen Habermas, Karl-Otto Apel, Talcott Parsons, Niklas Luhmann, Axel Honneth, Klaus Eder, Thomas McCarthy, Bernhard Giesen, Tom Burns, and Gerard Delanty Table of Contents : Foreword Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction Part I- Collective Learning 1. Collective Learning: Habermas's Concessions and Their Theoretical Implications Problems in Habermas's Learning Theory; Habermas's Concessions to His Critics; The Implications for Habermas's Position; Conclusion 2. The Ontogenetic Fallacy: The Immanent Critique of Habermas's Developmental- Logical Theory of Evolution The Starting-point; The Critique; The Response; The Outlook 3. Sociocultural Evolution or the Social Evolution of Practical Reason: Eder's Critique of Habermas Eder's Radical Turn; The Theoretical Context; Characterisation of Habermas's Theory; Critique of Habermas 4. Critical Theory and the New Social Movements: A Conflict of Interpretations Habermas's Theoretical Framework in Question; The Immanent Critique of Habermas's Theory of Social Movements; Pointers toward a New Critical Theoretical Approach to Social Movements; Conflicting Interpretations of the New Social Movements 5. Contemporary Social Evolutionary Theory: A New European Rapprochement Three European Strands of Social Evolutionary Theory; Theoretical Dynamics and Theoretical Core: Toward Convergence; In Lieu of a Conclusion: The New European Rapprochement Part II- Triple Contingency 6. Triple Contingency: The Theoretical Problem of the Public in Communication Societies The Public as Constitutive Element of Communication Societies; From Double to Triple Contingency; The Third Point of View: Within or Beyond Society? ; Legitimationism or Constructivism? 7. The Problem of Triple Contingency in Habermas Habermas's Appropriation and Use of Double; Contingency; Triple Contingency in Habermas 8. Contingency: A Critique of Niklas Luhmann Appropriation of the Theorem; Abortive Development of Double Contingency; Triple Contingency; Luhmann beyond Double Contingency? 9. Resonance: Triggering a Dormant Dimension of the Public Sphere Resonance and the Communicative Form of Society; Concepts of Resonance; Resonance Structures of the Public Sphere; Theoretical Significance and Research Potential of the Concept of Resonance 10. Intersubjectivity-Interactionist or Discursive? Reflections on Habermas's Critique of Brandom Habermas's Critique of Brandom; Habermas's Corrective Proposal; Critique of Habermas Part III-Applications: Social Movements, Responsibility, Risk, Cosmopolitanism 11. The Construction of Collective Identity: The South African Liberation Movement as a Collective Learning Process, 1882-1987 The Collective Learning Approach; Reconstruction of the Collective Identity of the South African Liberation Movement 12. Contemporary Approaches to Collective Identity: A Critical Assessment Preliminary Outline of Contemporary Approaches; Theory of Collective Identity Construction and Formation 13. The Challenge of Responsibility for Sociology From Individual to Co-Responsibility; Responsibility as New Master Frame; Societal Semantics, Master Frames and Enabling Structures 14. Risk Communication: World Creation through Collective Learning under Complex Contingent Conditions; Complexity Conditions of Risk Communication; Risk Communication as Learning under Contingent Conditions; The Normative Problem of Risk Communication 15. Cosmopolitanism, Globalization and Learning: Reflections on Delanty's Theory of Cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism and Learning; Globalization and Cosmopolitanism; Globalization and Learning Notes References Index About author : Piet Strydom, an Apartheid émigré who has been described as 'someone with unusual credentials and theoretical imagination, an author little constrained by convention', teaches in the Department of Sociology, University College Cork, Ireland. His publications include Discourse and Knowledge (2000), Risk, Environment and Society (2002), and Philosophies of Social Science (2003, edited and introduced with Gerard Delanty). Most recently, he edited a special issue of the European Journal of Social Theory (10/3, 2007) on the theme of 'Social Theory after the Cognitive Revolution' and wrote on 'Philosophies of the Social Sciences' for the UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS).