Book excerpt: J�rgen Habermas's critical communications theory of society has excited widespread interest in recent years. The essays in this book explore the research implications of Habermas's theory for the analysis of modern problems of public life. Spanning the spectrum of the social sciences, the essays relate critical theory to industrial policy under advanced capitalism, education, the mass media and consumerism, public participation in planning, policy analysis, and critical historical studies.John Forester is Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University. Critical Theory and Public Life is included in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas McCarthy.