Out of Frankfurt: A Response to Critics of The Unmasking Style in Social Theory

This article responds to appraisals of The Unmasking Style in Social Theory (Baehr, 2019). Critics of the book point to missed opportunities, arcane interests, and overstatements of the book’s central thesis. A structural sociology of unmasking is proposed. A cultural pragmatics of unmasking is recommended. The reply offers clarifications of the style, discusses the unmasking technique of elongation, and considers ways to mitigate unmasking in classroom teaching. Topics discussed include the limits of transparency and the hyperbole of “white privilege.”