What a critical social theory really needs to address is why hunger, poverty, and other forms of human suffering persist despite the technological and scientific potential to mitigate them or to eliminate them altogether.
– Lambert Zuidervaart

Heathwood Institute and Press is a non-profit critical social research project that was formed by a collective of academic researchers across a wide range of disciplines.

Motivated and inspired by the first generation Frankfurt School and recent movements in critical empirical social research, Heathwood’s aim is to investigate the root causes of social, economic, and environmental crises by offering fundamental, interdisciplinary and methodologically innovative social critique as well as promoting concrete, critical alternatives to the type of social policy symptomatic of today’s highly unjust societies.

Offering a critical response to the crisis of contemporary social theory, Heathwood works toward a critical theory of society through retrieving and advancing key insights of the first-generation Frankfurt School and by integrating these insights with a progressive cross-disciplinary (transdisciplinary) course of study. The project does not aim to interpret critical theory from a post-structuralist or a post-modern perspective, as is common in much of contemporary social theory. Rather, in returning to the Frankfurt School, Heathwood endeavors to critique and move beyond post-structuralism and post-modern theory without regressing to positivism or falling into the traps of relativism.

After the first 2 years of operation (December, 2015) Heathwood has placed increasing emphasis on methodologically innovative research, which bridges the gap between philosophy, science and systematic empirical study. Maintaining the Frankfurt School’s vision of interdisciplinary (or transdisciplinary) social research combined with empirical analysis, Heathwood endeavors to help people understand the dynamic processes and forces of society and the foundational basis for revolutionary social, political and economic transformation. Research which follows Heathwood’s methodological ambitions will be disseminated online under Papers & Dissertations and Studies & Reports blog feeds, as well as in our highly selective book publications and in the Heathwood Journal of Critical Theory.

In short: Heathwood’s collective pursuit is to delve into history, anthropology, epistemology, psychology and sociology, and ask fundamental questions about the way we as humans have historically related to ourselves, the world and each other. The project aims to look at how we humans respond to experience (emotionally, psychologically, and in our actions) and why we organise our institutions, societies and belief systems in the ways that we do. We combine phenomenology, ethnomethodology, structuralism, Marxism, humanism, existentialism, feminism, interactionism, and others, and ask hard questions about theories of religion, knowledge, education, and culture, and about how we build and perpetuate ideologies and unjust economic systems. In essence, we seek to understand how, why and when we relate to ourselves, the world and each other in destructive ways, and ultimately to develop new, healthier ways of relating and acting in the world.

To do this we bring together academics from a range of disciplines: economists, sociologists, anthropologists, historians, educationalists, philosophers, theologians, psychologists, scientists.

One of our aims is to take what we perceive to be of value from the earliest traditions of the Frankfurt School, and to retrieve, redevelop, rework and advance these concepts and theories to be relevant and useful in 21st Century society. In building on and extending the traditions of critical theory, we strive to not only challenge existing fields of research and policy, but also to fundamentally challenge from a foundational and multidisciplinary perspective the existing social model as a whole, with a mind towards promoting systemic change and radical democratic alternatives.

Through our research we are working to develop an understanding of the meaning of “healthy social progress” in the 21st Century from a holistic, integrated and methodologically unique perspective. We aim to achieve this through the advancement of critical theoretical thought by calling for new standpoints of critique and ultimately grounding our calls for new norms of critique according to a foundational, multidimensional critical theory of society.

In the interests of “social progress” we are geared toward excellence in scholarship and distinguished merit in terms of providing ground breaking research in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Economics, Psychology and Education, and with the ultimate goal of communicating the findings of our research in an engaging, practical manner that is both applicable to policy makers and accessible to the general public.

After 3 years of operation, we are now actively bringing together and supporting individuals who are leaders in their area and whose research possesses the potential to break new grounds in critical theoretical study. For more information, see the following sections on our website:

Heathwood’s Publications

The publishing arm of the project, Heathwood Press, is the primary outlet for the writings of the Institute and its authors and contributors. Majority of Heathwood’s publications are available online and for free; however, we also publish books and a print journal. For author information, please see our submissions page.

The ethos of the Press is that critical theory and academic research should be free and accessible to the public, not hidden behind some pay-wall (which is the inspiration behind our idea of a free, online publication programme as well as other things like our Frankfurt School digital archives). For this reason, we actively ensure that majority of our publications are available free and online.

While we must understandably find ways to also financially sustain ourselves in the present economic climate, we strive endlessly to come up with new radical ways to financially sustain the project without giving into corrupt economic practices. We therefore promote all of our books or print publications as follows: if a person believes that, we as an organisation or a particular author, contributes positively toward the progress of society, and if the individual would thus like to support our project or that particular author’s work, the choice is made available to either make a donation or purchase a relevant print title.

Books

When it comes to our highly selective book publishing program, the Press operates on a non-profit basis and we strive to ensure all of our book titles are as affordable as possible for the reader. Majority of the money charged for each print title goes toward supporting the author, while a small percentage goes toward covering project and publication costs. In purchasing a Heathwood book, you are supporting our project and helping ensure its future is financially safe. Over the years we have also published significant excerpts or complete versions of our books online, allowing free access to some of the author’s main arguments.

Print Journal

The same can be said about our Print Journal. The Heathwood Journal of Critical Theory is an important part of our financial model. It helps us cover project costs, as well as fund our website. When you purchase an issue of the Heathwood Journal, the money you spend goes directly toward helping fund the project. After a time delay, we also release a selection of articles from each journal issue online and for free.

Sustainable print model

Regarding the day to say operations of the Press: we refuse to give-in to wasteful out-of-date publishing methods, corporate hierarchies and corporate methods of operation. We strive everyday to be as free as possible from the rotten economic dynamics of our present-day social reality. We refuse to surrender to the type of shackles that come with an obligation to shareholders, advertisement agencies, and corporate modes of production, which play a dreadful and controlling role with regards to today’s publishing standards.

It is therefore central to our publishing mandate that our publishing model at Heathwood Press is both economically and environmentally sustainable. Drawing off the latest technologies and also the services of a printer/distributor who is one of the most radical in the industry, especially when it comes to economic and environmental sustainability, all of our publications function on a Print on Demand basis.

When a Heathwood reader chooses to purchase one of our titles, each order is printed on the demand of that single purchase. This publishing model amounts to a few different points: it eliminates massive economic overhead and it saves on the mass-production of the literary art (which is important to us). Our print-on-demand model also allows us to refuse to participate in the exhaustion of materials, affording us the freedom to refuse to print 50,000 copies of any given title so that they might just sit in a warehouse somewhere.

Thanks to our printer/distributor, all of our books are Chain of Custody Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI). This means that the paper used to print our books is tracked from forest to printer to ensure the integrity of the paper supply chain, and that all wood fibre used for paper production is legally sourced from responsibly managed forests.

Lastly, we realise the importance of mutual interaction and appreciate all of the feedback we receive. If there is anything you wish to enquire about or discuss or even share, please feel free to contact us at or visit our contact page.

Updated 02/01/2016