Critical theorys task as an emancipatory theory If problem-solving theories adopt a positivist methodology, and end up w1 reaffirming the prevailing system, critical theories are informed by the e traditions of hermeneutics and Ideologiekritik. Critical international theory is not concerned only with understanding and explaining the existing realities of world politics, it also intends to criticize in order to transform them. It is an attempt to comprehend essential social processes yv umr for the purpose of inaugurating change, or at least knowing whether change is Hoffman's an expression of the concrete realities of the historical situation, but also a force for change within those conditions'. Neufeld(1995: Chapter 5) also affirms this view of critical theory. It offers, he says, a form of social criticism that supports practical political activity aimed at societal transformation