Critical Political Theory of Prefiguration

On the basis of an attempt to sort political theorizing into ideal types, a basic program for a utopian critical political theory is outlined. In order to elaborate its specific epistemological interest and procedures, the concept of prefiguration, which has recently been revitalized in the context of social movements, is used. An endeavor that integrates the prefigurative in a threefold way can, in the best case, take a step beyond the often negativistic forms of critical theorizing without falling into purely ideal-theoretical trajectories. To outline this program, the paper searches for traces among representatives of the so-called first generation of critical theory and also draws from other contexts, such as utopian studies and social movement research.