This article deals with the concept of critique by discussing and tracing theoretical definitions and epistemological implications of critique within three influential fields of discourse studies: Critical Linguistics, Critical Discourse Studies and Discourse Linguistics (Diskurslingvistik). The intention of the article stems from an observation regarding how discourse studies – at least in a Swedish context – tend to align with a critical perspective, yet without explicating it. Consequently, the article examines the following questions: What does it mean to conduct critical studies as a linguist? What traditions and theoretical contexts are the understandings of critique anchored in? What critical traditions have inspired discourse studies in Sweden? Drawing on the conceptual conflict between postmodern notions of knowledge on the one hand and populist and post-truth views on the other, the article concludes by arguing for the contemporary importance of linguistic critique.