Critical Theory: A push-back

I am posting three MS Word documents and identical PDF versions which gently but firmly interrogate Critical Theory and some allied ideas. These all have long back-stories and some merit if viewed with decent scepticism. The 21st Century has allowed them to grow like Topsy-Turvy and to an unchallenged prominence amongst, especially, university students and those they go on to teach. They bossily dominate the broadcast media, publishing and the art world.

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The first piece looks at Theory. That is, Critical Theory and some of its subsets, such as Colonial and Post-colonial Theory. It also looks at Theory’s allies, such as Identity Politics, Positive Psychology and Positive Parenting.

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The second piece takes the fascinating history of John “Lockwood” Kipling (JLK) and his work with (and against) the 19th-century British Raj, and seen at 2017 V&A show.

I deploy JLK as a prism with which to address the Critical Theory, Colonial Theory, and Post-colonial Theory of the 21st Century. I do so because Dr Nadeem Tarar has written an important book on the whole matter, and it makes a useful test case.

Theory has successfully ignored level-headed history as it re-writes the entire imperial enterprise,  exemplified by Theory’s take on the Raj’s policy on indigenous craft skills and education.

The case of Lockwood Kipling would matter in its own right, but I hopeit gains new importance as part of the push-back against Theory’s postmodern hegemonic propaganda.

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The third piece concerns the famous 20th Century artist Glyn Philpot and my own grandfather, Stanley Kennedy North (SKN), a paintings conservator, artist and organic pioneer. Both men probably pretty innocently (and separately) worked with Edwin Lutyens for the British Empire in London in 1924-5. Both were also involved in a Lutyens project in New Delhi in  1929 (SKN hands-on in Delhi). The issue came under Theory’s gaze when Philpot’s involvement was discussed in Glyn Philpot: Flesh and Spirit (2022) by the Pallant Gallery, Chichester.