ABSTRACT
This chapter will start by arguing in some detail that criticism and a fortiori reading are highly neglected areas in the social sciences. Due to a naiveté or ‘innocence’ in the understanding of what is involved in criticism, in what a text is and in what language is, criticism in the social sciences is normative-texts are criticized not for what they say, but for not saying what they ought to say. To a large extent, this is, it will be argued, due to a lack of reflection on critical practice, the end result which is spontaneous, ‘innocent’ readings, where reading is considered unproblematical and the text given.
