Critical theory of communication as critical sociology of critique in the age of digital capitalism: A response to Jan Løhmann Stephensen's review essay on Culture and Economy in the Age of Social Media

Abstract

This essay is a reflection on Jan Løhmann Stephensen’s review essay on my book Culture and Economy in the Age of Social Media (Conjunctions, Vol. 2, No. 2). It contrasts creativity and social production in Marx’s theory, clarifies my relationship to Boltanski and Chiapello’s approach, reflects on the influence of humanist Marxism on my thought, and argues for grounding media/communication studies and digital media research in critical theory, understood as a critical sociology of critique that combines social theory, empirical social research and ethics.