Introduction: Critical Librarianship

Abstract

While critical theory has roots in the social sciences and humanities, it moves beyond attempts to merely understand and explain society, challenging individuals and institutions to critique and perhaps change the social constructs in which we live, particularly those that contribute to social injustice. More specifically, critical theory acknowledges that racism, patriarchy, capitalism, and similar systems of power and oppression have become nearly inextricable from many aspects of Western culture, largely due to centuries of dominance by white, heterosexual, Christian males. This centralization of power led to the marginalization of “others,” or those who do not belong to the dominant factions within society. Despite this, proponents of critical theory insist that ideology is the main impediment to human liberation, and liberation is achievable by interrogating and dismantling tyrannical ideologies and their effects on society. Critical theory is not new. Critical Theory as a school of thought emerged in Germany in the 1930s, and has since been applied widely and in varying contexts. As aspects of Critical Theory were more broadly adopted and applied, “critical theory” became colloquialized and critical practices embedded in many professions and activities. Examples of this include critical pedagogy, critical management, critical anthropology, and critical librarianship. The primary commonalities within these movements are a conscious effort and interest in looking reflectively at the values, practices, and structures within pedagogy, management, librarianship, etc., and changing those things that contribute to social, economic, and other injustices. Sanford Berman (born October 6, 1933) is known extensively in the library cataloging community as an activist and proponent of alternative library practices. He is perhaps most well known for his criticism of bias in Library of Congress (LOC) subject headings. In 2007, Berman submitted a formal recommendation to the LOC Cataloging Policy and Support Office to have “critical librarianship” added as a LOC subject heading. Within this proposal,