Stephen Leonard outlines three undertakings of a critical social theory:

1. It must locate the sources of domination in actual social practices;
2. It must present an alternative vision (or at least an outline) of a life free from such domination; and
3. It must translate these tasks in a form that is intelligible to those who are oppressed in society.

Leonard, S.T. (1990). Critical theory in political practice. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.