If problem-solving theories adopt a positivist methodology and end up
reaffirming the prevailing system, critical theories are informed by the
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
for the purpose of inaugurating change, or at least knowing whether
change is possible. In Hoffman’s words (1987: 233), it is ‘not merely 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.