The interface between social science theories and politics is rarely studied systematically. Yet, there are many examples of political actors and movements shaping the social sciences. We study the emergence of ``critical social science'' as a political phenomenon, and investigate its political origins. Drawing on academic publication data we propose a measurement strategy that captures the output of critical social science at the level of universities, subnational locations and countries. Using our measure of critical social science, we chart its rise over time and space, and analyze its historical origins in radical student protest movements. Specifically, we look at whether the intensity and incidence of mass student protests 1968-1978 affects the university-level output of critical social science in the following decades. Our contribution highlights the importance of political history for understanding the trajectory of the social sciences, and how this can be studied rigorously in a large-n framework.