What research questions and approaches are currently missing in the field of human-robot interaction research? We discuss humanistic and critical dimensions of critical robotics – an initiative created to investigate a possible paradigm shift in the field of robotics research. Robotic solutions are increasingly presented as a potentially desirable and emerging technologies in different social domains and institutions. At the same time, both this vision and the reality of robots in society pose a great deal of challenges. We provide some background to the critical robotics movement and present examples of research that takes a critical robotics perspective.