RASIONALITAS INSTRUMENTAL DAN DOMINASI SISTEMIK DALAM MASYARAKAT DIGITAL: PERSPEKTIF NEO-MARXIS DAN TEORI KRITIS FRANKFURT TERHADAP PERKEMBANGAN KONSEPTUAL MASYARAKAT KONTEMPORER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46773/djce.v4i1.2104Abstract
This study examines how instrumental rationality contributes to the consolidation of systemic domination in the digital age, utilizing a Neo-Marxist and Frankfurt School Critical Theory framework. Instrumental rationality, which prioritizes efficiency and control, not only shapes bureaucratic and technological systems but also colonizes the social lifeworld through popular culture, algorithms, and digital communication. In this context, social media and the digital economy function as hegemonic tools that disseminate capitalist values symbolically and ideologically. Using Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis, the research analyzes representative texts from media, public policies, and popular culture to reveal hidden mechanisms of domination within discursive practices and broader social structures. The findings show that systemic domination is no longer coercive but operates diffusely through technocratic logic, identity commodification, and the algorithmic structuring of everyday life. Habermas’s concept of communicative action offers a theoretical foundation for restoring deliberative public spaces and constructing a more participatory model of democracy. This study contributes to expanding the horizon of critical social theory by integrating digital, cultural, and ethical perspectives. It highlights the importance of media literacy, algorithmic justice, and cultural resistance as pathways toward holistic and transformative emancipation. Ultimately, it calls for a socially just, reflexive, and human-centered digital order.
References
Al'anam, M. and Salman, R. (2024). The relevance of jürgen habermas’s theory of communicative action as the philosophical foundation of human rights enforcement in indonesia. Mimbar Hukum - Fakultas Hukum Universitas Gadjah Mada, 36(1), 61-82. https://doi.org/10.22146/mh.v36i1.11513
Alamyar, I., Halwati, U., Rifin, J., & Rofiqoh, A. (2023). The theory of communicative action in da’wah. icodev, 4(2), 69-78. https://doi.org/10.24090/icodev.v4i2.9904
Asih, I., Nugroho, H., & Budiawan, B. (2022). Hegemonic dialectics between power and resistance in the indonesian sharing economy: study of gojek. Informasi, 52(1), 63-82. https://doi.org/10.21831/informasi.v52i1.49348
Aydın, A. (2025). Trt's international digital platform “tabii” and transmission of turkish culture through tv series., 149-172. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-1957-5.ch006
Boucher, G. (2021). The frankfurt school and the authoritarian personality: balance sheet of an insight. Thesis Eleven, 163(1), 89-102. https://doi.org/10.1177/07255136211005957
Bouquillion, P. and Ithurbide, C. (2022). Audio-visual industry and digital platforms in india: a contribution from political economy of communication. Global Media and Communication, 18(3), 345-364. https://doi.org/10.1177/17427665221125548
Brandt, N. (2019). Secularity, gender, and emancipation: thinking through feminist activism and feminist approaches to the secular. Religion, 49(4), 691-716. https://doi.org/10.1080/0048721x.2019.1642261
Buchanan, I. (2018). A dictionary of critical theory.. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780198794790.001.0001
Cader, I. and Sundrijo, D. (2023). Critical analysis of neo-gramscian hegemony. Eduvest - Journal of Universal Studies, 3(8), 1435-1448. https://doi.org/10.59188/eduvest.v3i8.894
Cavaco, C., Paulos, C., Domingos, R., & Alves, E. (2023). Popular education in an association – expert by experience and work in tandem. European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults, 14(1), 63-77. https://doi.org/10.3384/rela.2000-7426.4209
Costa, J. (2024). Emancipation and liberation as normative horizons in critical theory. Thesis Eleven, 184-185(1), 16-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/07255136241292079
Cubas, J., Bonamigo, V., Alvarenga, R., & Carvalho, D. (2024). Childhood and adolescence in mental health policy: an analysis through health counselors and conferences. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 29(5). https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232024295.01452023en
Daros, O. (2022). From cultural marxism to critical literacy: rethinking douglas kellner’s media theory. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 50(9), 1354-1372. https://doi.org/10.1177/01914537221133852
Delanty, G. and Harris, N. (2021). Critical theory and the question of technology: the frankfurt school revisited. Thesis Eleven, 166(1), 88-108. https://doi.org/10.1177/07255136211002055
Demir, Y. and Tiryaki, S. (2024). “we are enemies of law and women”: the manosphere and victimized masculinity on twitter (now x). The Journal of Men S Studies, 33(2), 231-251. https://doi.org/10.1177/10608265241279841
Dong, T. and Sun, C. (2024). Sinicization of marxism as the basis of political philosophy and political discourse of modern china (people's republic of china). Dialogue and Universalism, 34(3), 71-84. https://doi.org/10.5840/du202434342
Duvenhage, P. (2024). Reflections on habermas’s discourse ethics. Verbum Et Ecclesia, 45(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v45i1.3009
Feenberg, A. (2023). Marcuse’s critique of technology today. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 49(6), 672-685. https://doi.org/10.1177/01914537231164657
Fuchs, C. (2018). Towards a critical theory of communication with georg lukács and lucien goldmann. Javnost - The Public, 25(3), 265-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2018.1463032
Grönlund, C., Söderberg, A., Dahlqvist, V., Sandlund, M., & Zingmark, K. (2018). Communicative and organizational aspects of clinical ethics support. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 33(6), 724-733. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820.2018.1551862
Haderer, M. (2021). Does emancipation devour its children? beyond a stalled dialectic of emancipation. European Journal of Social Theory, 25(1), 172-188. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684310211028382
Hammar, E. (2019). The political economy of cultural memory in the videogames industry. Digital Culture & Society, 5(1), 61-84. https://doi.org/10.14361/dcs-2019-0105
Haqqi, H. and Wijayati, H. (2023). Gen-z local wisdom campaign agenda in the framework of counter hegemony, digital hegemony, cultural hegemony. Asian Journal of Community Services, 2(2), 191-202. https://doi.org/10.55927/ajcs.v2i2.3144
Hermida, R. (2019). Towards a critical theory of philippine society. Kritike an Online Journal of Philosophy, 12(3), 22-42. https://doi.org/10.25138/12.3.a2
Hoston, G. (2024). Revolutionary confucianism? neo-confucian idealism and modern chinese revolutionary thought. Political Research Quarterly, 77(2), 607-619. https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129241228489
Hutton, M. and Heath, T. (2020). Researching on the edge: emancipatory praxis for social justice. European Journal of Marketing, 54(11), 2697-2721. https://doi.org/10.1108/ejm-02-2019-0150
Ibsen, M. (2023). Domination, social norms, and the idea of an emancipatory interest. Constellations, 31(2), 160-173. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.12674
Ikhsan, N., Beloan, B., Husni, M., & Mongan, F. (2023). Morality in the arrangement of regional budget as an effort to reduce flypaper effect: a critical habermasian perspective. International Journal of Religious and Cultural Studies, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.34199/ijracs.2023.04.02
Jovanoski, A. and Sharlamanov, K. (2021). Jurgen habermas and his contribution to the theory of deliberative democracy. American International Journal of Social Science Research, 36-47. https://doi.org/10.46281/aijssr.v7i1.1296
Kellner, D. (2021). Cultural marxism, british cultural studies, and the reconstruction of education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 55(13), 1423-1435. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2021.1926982
Khachaturian, R. (2018). Bringing what state back in? neo-marxism and the origin of the committee on states and social structures. Political Research Quarterly, 72(3), 714-726. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912918804450
Kristiyono, J., Ida, R., & Mashud, M. (2020). Counter-hegemony of the east java biennale art community against the domination of hoax content reproduction. Masyarakat Kebudayaan Dan Politik, 33(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.20473/mkp.v33i12020.26-35
Kämper, F. (2023). On the colonization of the environment. European Journal of Social Theory, 27(1), 97-114. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684310231188888
Lagon, M. and Lou, T. (2018). The dragon in turtle bay: the impact of china's rise in the un on the united states and global governance. World Affairs, 181(3), 239-255. https://doi.org/10.1177/0043820018806981
Martini, A. (2019). Rethinking terrorism and countering terrorism from a critical perspective.cts and normativity. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 13(1), 47-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2019.1658411
Mihelj, S. (2022). Platform nations. Nations and Nationalism, 29(1), 10-24. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12912
Mirjalali, F., Peyma, D., & Kordlar, M. (2023). Conflict resolution through communication: habermasian study of pinter’s the homecoming. Jordan Journal of Modern Languages and Literature, 15(3), 919-937. https://doi.org/10.47012/jjmll.15.3.10
Morelock, J. (2018). Critical theory and authoritarian populism.. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv9hvtcf
Niazi, T. (2018). Contesting instrumental knowledge with communicative action: why kalabagh dam (pakistan) remains unbuilt. Organization & Environment, 32(4), 441-465. https://doi.org/10.1177/1086026618773696
Ocholla, D. (2020). Decolonizing higher education in africa: implications and possibilities for university libraries. College & Research Libraries News, 81(6), 289. https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.81.6.289
Pa, H. (2022). Critical thinking of frankfurt school of thought in cultural industry. Advances in Educational Technology and Psychology, 6(11). https://doi.org/10.23977/aetp.2022.061105
Pezdek, K., Dobrowolski, R., & Michaluk, T. (2019). Habermas and the therapeutic function of language. Nursing Philosophy, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12290
Pierosara, S. (2020). Progress, emancipation, hope: rethinking critical theory through memories as counternarratives. Constellations, 28(1), 111-125. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.12488
Pillay, A. (2025). Artificial intelligence's (ai) pro-us foreign policy stance – a new global security challenge. Netsol New Trends in Social and Liberal Sciences, 10(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.24819/netsol2025.1
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Rahma Dona, Devina Novela, Aisyah Nur
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
