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Topic · Philosophy

Marxism and Critical Theory

Marxism and Critical Theory is a research topic within Philosophy. Science Explorer counts 3.2k research works in it since 1958. 10.2% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the work of Louis Althusser, exploring themes such as Marxism, ideology, citizenship, materialism, and critical theory. It delves into the implications of his ideas on social reproduction, dialectics, and globalization.

  • Althusser
  • Marxism
  • Ideology
  • Philosophy
  • Materialism
  • Citizenship
  • Critical Theory
  • Globalization
  • Social Reproduction
  • Dialectics
Research works
3.2k
fractional, since 1958
In the world top 10%
323
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.2%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-8%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
France
19% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Marxism and Critical Theory

Which countries lead Marxism and Critical Theory research?

By volume, France and the United States publish the most (92 and 91 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 France 92 works
  2. 2 United States 91 works
  3. 3 Brazil 76 works
  4. 4 Argentina 42 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 36 works
  6. 6 Türkiye 34 works
  7. 7 Spain 30 works
  8. 8 Germany 27 works
  9. 9 Italy 26 works
  10. 10 Canada 26 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.

France: 19.1%United States: 19.0%Brazil: 15.8%Argentina: 8.7%6 others listed: 37.3%19%largest
France92 · 19.1%United States91 · 19.0%Brazil76 · 15.8%Argentina42 · 8.7%6 others listed178 · 37.3%

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

Which institutions lead Marxism and Critical Theory research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Marxism and Critical Theory research, followed by Universidad de Buenos Aires and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 16 works
  2. 2 Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina 15 works
  3. 3 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasArgentina 9 works
  4. 4 University of OttawaCanada 6 works
  5. 5 Université Paris NanterreFrance 5 works
  6. 6 Universidade de São PauloBrazil 5 works
  7. 7 Université de LyonFrance 5 works
  8. 8 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 5 works
  9. 9 Universidad de GranadaSpain 4 works
  10. 10 York UniversityCanada 4 works

Who are the leading researchers in Marxism and Critical Theory?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Marxism and Critical Theory include Pierre Bourdıeu, James Thomas and Judith Butler.

  1. 1 Pierre Bourdıeu France 268k citations
  2. 2 James Thomas United Kingdom 242k citations
  3. 3 Judith Butler United States 116k 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 Marxism and Critical Theory?

The most cited paper in Marxism and Critical Theory is "Signification, representation, ideology: Althusser and the post‐structuralist debates" (Stuart Hall, 1985), with 1,399 citations. Next come "Radical interpretation" (718) and "Populism versus Democracy" (642).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Signification, representation, ideology: Althusser and the post‐structuralist debates Stuart Hall · Critical Studies in Mass Communication Jun 1985 1,399
2 Radical interpretation David Lewis · Synthese 1974 718
3 Populism versus Democracy Koenraad Abts, Stefan Rummens · Political Studies 22 Mar 2007 642
4 Interrogating post-democratization: Reclaiming egalitarian political spaces Erik A. Swyngedouw · Political Geography Sep 2011 497
5 Discourse Theory: Achievements, Arguments, and Challenges Jacob Torfing · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks Book chapter 2005 313
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Marxism and Critical Theory research done?

The largest centres of Marxism and Critical Theory research in 2022-now are Paris (France), Buenos Aires (Argentina), São Paulo (Brazil) and London (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Buenos Aires and Paris.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 ParisFrance 31 works
  2. 2 Buenos AiresArgentina 25 works
  3. 3 São PauloBrazil 14 works
  4. 4 LondonUnited Kingdom 10 works
  5. 5 Mexico CityMexico 9 works
  6. 6 Rio de JaneiroBrazil 9 works
  7. 7 MadridSpain 8 works
  8. 8 SantiagoChile 8 works
  9. 9 IstanbulTürkiye 8 works
  10. 10 New YorkUnited States 7 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Buenos AiresAR · 25.5 works21×
  2. ParisFR · 30.6 works5.5×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Marxism and Critical Theory on the map

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

Among universities, judged by research, Universidad de Buenos Aires 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.

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
1Universidad de Buenos AiresArgentina 6.75.8%64.2×15 +6.7%

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 Marxism and Critical Theory, country by country

Is Marxism and Critical Theory research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 8% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025.

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 Marxism and Critical Theory as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0022% in 2024.

still counting0.0020%0.0040%0.0060%Marxism and Critical Theory0.0030% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Marxism and Critical Theory 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%Marxism and Critical Theory9.8% 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.

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