This book of tightly woven dialogues engages prominent thinkers in a discussion about the role of culture-broadly construed-in contemporary society and politics. Faced with the conceptual inflation of the notion of 'culture,' which now imposes itself as an indispensable issue in contemporary moral and political debates, these dynamic exchanges seek to rethink culture and critique beyond the schematic models that have often predominated, such as the opposition between "mainstream multiculturalism" and the "clash of civilizations." Prefaced by an introduction relating current cultural debates to the critical theory tradition, this book examines the politics of culture and the spirit of critique from three different vantage points. To begin, Gabriel Rockhill and Alfredo Gomez-Muller provide a stage-setting dialogue, followed by discussions with two major representatives of contemporary critical theory: Seyla Benhabib and Nancy Fraser. Working at the horizons of this tradition, Judith Butler, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Cornel West then provide important critical perspectives on cultural politics. The book's concluding section engages with Michael Sandel and Will Kymlicka, who work out of the Rawlsian tradition yet are uniquely concerned with the issue of culture, broadly understood. The epilogue, an interview with Axel Honneth, returns to the core issue of critical theory in cultural politics. Ranging from recent developments and progressive interventions in critical theory to dialogues that incorporate its insights into larger discussions of social and political philosophy, this book sharpens old critical tools while developing new strategies for rethinking the role of 'culture' in contemporary society.

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Politics of Culture and the Spirit of CritiqueGabriel Rockhill and Alfredo Gomez-MullerCritical Theory and the Question of Culture1. Critical Theory Today: Politics, Ethics, CultureOpening DialogueAlfredo Gomez-Muller and Gabriel Rockhill2. Concrete Universality and Critical Social TheoryDialogue with Alfredo Gomez-Muller and Gabriel RockhillSeyla Benhabib3. Global Justice and the Renewal of the Critical Theory TraditionDialogue with Alfredo Gomez-Muller and Gabriel RockhillNancy FraserCritical Perspectives on Cultural Politics4. Accounting for a Philosophic Itinerary: Genealogies of Power and Ethics of NonviolenceDialogue with Alfredo Gomez-Muller and Gabriel RockhillJudith Butler5. The Present in the Light of the Longue DuréeDialogue with Alfredo Gomez-Muller and Gabriel RockhillImmanuel Wallerstein6. A Prisoner of Hope in the Night of the American EmpireDialogue with Gabriel RockhillCornel WestCulture as Critique: The Limits of Liberalism?7. Liberalism: Politics, Ethics, and MarketsDialogue with Alfredo Gomez-Muller and Ronan SharkeyMichael Sandel8. Cultural Rights and Social-Democratic PrinciplesDialogue with Alfredo Gomez-Muller and Gabriel RockhillWill KymlickaEpilogue: Critical Theory and Recognition9. The Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School and the Theory of RecognitionDialogue with Olivier VoirolAxel HonnethContributors