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Critical Theory is generative for the advancement of subsequent types of progressive theories that seek justice across multiple spectrums of philosophies. Its origin manifested at the Frankfurt School, among a group of privileged White men seeking to eradicate social ills in Germany during World War II while lacking sufficient global experience and understanding to apply the theory to macro injustices. While critical theory did not redress the limitations of the intellectualized vision, the theory was reconceptualized as more encompassing with its forced relocation to the United States, though still limited in its application to the social ills of woman's suffrage and the civil rights movement of Blacks in the United States. In flux, the revised critical theory became propagative. Despite its limitations illustrated here in the work of W. E. B. Du Bois, Critical Theory gave rise to scholarships that highlight injustices across areas it did not foresee that include race, ethnicity, disability, gender, and anticolonialism. As a result of Critical Theory across modernities, some silenced voices can be heard, despite what some have labeled an exclusionary canon.

This special issue was initiated using ideas and content from the 2023 all-day discussion at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) relating critical qualitative inquiry (CQI) and contemporary issues of social, environmental, and other forms of justice. Definitions and multiple possibilities for CQI were explored. What is CQI? What does it mean for qualitative research? Critique? (Re)Conceptualization? To provide the reader with a feel for the complexity of issues and content discussed along with research initiated through these discussions, the remainder of this introductory article provides (1) a brief history of critical qualitative work, (2) an overview of the critical content introduced in the 2023 all-day session, and (3) a description of the new critical work recently conducted by participants who joined the discussions.