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To define critical theory, Karakayali states that it "primarily aims to reveal which is repressed in/by the social" (Karakayali, 2004:353; Ritzer, 2011:284). This statement clearly states that critical theory is rather interested in the micro than the macro understanding of society. To see critical theory as a distinctive theory in the realm of sociology, first we have to understand the core objectives of the theory. According to Agger (1998:78-79) the theory was developed to reformulate theories of Marxism on two important foundations, which is: 1) "how positivism has become mythology" and 2) "offers the concept of the culture industry to explain aspects of ideological and cultural manipulation". Thus, from the statement, it is crucial to understand that critical theory did not reject Marxism completely but rather aims to reform the grounds that Marxism covers (to include the cultural realm). .
Critical theorist, such as Lukacs argue that the positivistic approach in the contemporary and modern sociological theories has made ideologies more immobilizing, through the 'reification' process of culture and practices by identifying it as 'natural or naturelike', hence giving the impression that these ideologies can't be changed (Agger, 1998:82). To elaborate, critical theory critics rejects a linear way of understanding the social (scientific in this sense), hence marks the direct opposition to positivism that studies society as a process of extrapolation rather than looking at it as a more complex system than conventional theories can fully understand (Habermas, 2013:277). .
For example, it is stated in Agger (1998:88) that Marx's "failure to separate selfreflection and communication from technology led to economic determinism". We can understand from the statement that Marx's inherent flaws in his theory as it is driven by economic determinism has in away contributed to the heavily mechanistic interpretation by the neo-Marxist (Ritzer, 2011:282).
