Science Explorer Back to mapMap
Discussion
Topic · Sociology and Political Science

Critical Theory and Philosophy

Critical Theory and Philosophy is a research topic within Sociology and Political Science. Science Explorer counts 15k research works in it since 1950. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers revolves around Critical Theory, focusing on social pathologies, recognition, multiple modernities, and the critique of capitalism. It delves into topics such as normative critique, deliberative democracy, ideology critique, the Axial Age, and the cultural turn in understanding modernity.

  • Habermas
  • Social Pathologies
  • Recognition
  • Modernities
  • Capitalism
  • Normative Critique
  • Deliberative Democracy
  • Ideology Critique
  • Axial Age
  • Cultural Turn
Research works
15k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
1.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-6%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
27% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Critical Theory and Philosophy

Which countries lead Critical Theory and Philosophy research?

By volume, the United States and Germany publish the most (516 and 322 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 516 works
  2. 2 Germany 322 works
  3. 3 Brazil 290 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 205 works
  5. 5 China 126 works
  6. 6 Italy 94 works
  7. 7 Türkiye 93 works
  8. 8 Russia 83 works
  9. 9 Canada 79 works
  10. 10 Spain 73 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 27.4%Germany: 17.1%Brazil: 15.4%United Kingdom: 10.9%6 others listed: 29.2%27%largest
United States516 · 27.4%Germany322 · 17.1%Brazil290 · 15.4%United Kingdom205 · 10.9%6 others listed549 · 29.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Critical Theory and Philosophy research?

By volume in 2022-now, Universidade de São Paulo publishes the most Critical Theory and Philosophy research, followed by Goethe University Frankfurt and Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 20 works
  2. 2 Goethe University FrankfurtGermany 16 works
  3. 3 Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 16 works
  4. 4 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 15 works
  5. 5 University of ViennaAustria 13 works
  6. 6 Freie Universität BerlinGermany 13 works
  7. 7 Universidade Federal de Santa CatarinaBrazil 13 works
  8. 8 Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinGermany 12 works
  9. 9 York UniversityCanada 12 works
  10. 10 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 12 works

Who are the leading researchers in Critical Theory and Philosophy?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Critical Theory and Philosophy include Pierre Bourdıeu, Michel Foucault and Michael J. Mack.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu France 268k citations
  2. 2 Michel Foucault France 208k citations
  3. 3 Michael J. Mack United States 154k citations
  4. 4 Noam Chomsky United States 141k citations
  5. 5 Norman K. Denzin United States 130k citations
  6. 6 Bruno Latour France 129k citations
  7. 7 Anthony Giddens United States 121k citations
  8. 8 James J. Collins United States 118k citations
  9. 9 Judith Butler United States 116k citations
  10. 10 Francis Fukuyama United States 110k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Critical Theory and Philosophy?

The most cited paper in Critical Theory and Philosophy is "Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies" (Francis Fukuyama, Ronald Inglehart, 1997), with 4,848 citations. Next come "Rethinking Critical Theory and Qualitative Research" (2,560) and "The theory of communicative action" (2,296).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies Francis Fukuyama, Ronald Inglehart · Foreign Affairs 1997 4,848
2 Rethinking Critical Theory and Qualitative Research Joe L. Kincheloe, Peter L. McLaren · SensePublishers eBooks Book chapter 2011 2,560
3 The theory of communicative action Andrew Edgar Book chapter 30 Jun 2005 2,296
4 61. The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life Kenneth J. Gergen · Princeton University Press eBooks Book chapter 29 Jul 2015 2,226
5 One-Dimensional Man Timothy W. Luke · Organization & Environment Mar 2000 1,881
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Critical Theory and Philosophy research done?

The largest centres of Critical Theory and Philosophy research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Berlin (Germany), São Paulo (Brazil) and Moscow (Russia). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Frankfurt am Main.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 49 works
  2. 2 BerlinGermany 46 works
  3. 3 São PauloBrazil 46 works
  4. 4 MoscowRussia 45 works
  5. 5 New YorkUnited States 41 works
  6. 6 MadridSpain 29 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 27 works
  8. 8 Buenos AiresArgentina 24 works
  9. 9 MunichGermany 23 works
  10. 10 BeijingChina 22 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Frankfurt am MainDE · 21.2 works9.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Critical Theory and Philosophy than the world average.

See Critical Theory and Philosophy on the map

Where is the best place to study Critical Theory and Philosophy?

Among universities, judged by research, Goethe University Frankfurt, University of Helsinki and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 15.81%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Goethe University Fr…University of HelsinkiHumboldt-Universität…Freie Universität Be…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Goethe University FrankfurtGermany 66.618.2%15.9×16 -34.6%
2University of HelsinkiFinland 63.815.5%7.0×11 +58.5%
3Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinGermany 60.615.5%14.5×12 +37.7%
4Freie Universität BerlinGermany 60.311.5%13.8×13 +39.6%
5University of ViennaAustria 60.010.7%11.4×13 +47.6%
6University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 59.127.6%3.2×10 -22.2%
7University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 53.520.4%3.3×9 +20.3%
8University of ChicagoUnited States 53.033.8%4.4×9 +13.0%
9Universidade Federal de Minas GeraisBrazil 49.34.7%9.5×16 +26.5%
10York UniversityCanada 46.00.2%14.8×12 +105.8%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Critical Theory and Philosophy, country by country

Is Critical Theory and Philosophy research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 6% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2020.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Critical Theory and Philosophy as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.011% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%Critical Theory and Philosophy0.010% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Critical Theory and Philosophy over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Critical Theory and Philosophy10.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

Discussion

Ask a question or share a note about Critical Theory and Philosophy. Posts are plain text and can be reported.