Download or read book Street Smarts and Critical Theory written by Thomas McLaughlin and published by Univ of Wisconsin Press. This book was released on 1996-11-15 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like academic theorists, who are trained in a tradition of philosophical and political skepticism that challenges all orthodoxies, the vernacular theorists McLaughlin identifies display a lively and healthy alertness to contradiction and propaganda. They are not passive victims of ideology but active questioners of the belief systems that have power over their lives. Their theoretical work arises from the circumstances they confront on the job, in the family, in popular culture. And their questioning of established institutions, McLaughlin contends, is essential and healthy, for it clarifies the purpose and strategies of institutions and justifies the existence of cultural practices.