Modernity is stuck on an unsustainable course, which poses a challenge to both critical
theory and praxis. My book develops a comprehensive diagnosis of the times by reviewing
the rapidly growing field of critical theories that focus on structural paradoxes
and social suffering. To address the complex challenges of the era of permacrisis,
various emancipatory praxes are elaborated from the perspective of intersubjective
(e.g., mimetic violence), technological (e.g., algorithmic reification), and discursive
(e.g., cynical justification) distortions. In order to provide a synthetic framework,
a new social contract is proposed, based on responsibility towards the particularistic
other instead of universal justice.
