In any of its manifestation, critical theory has never been contented to operate at the level of mere ideas. It is not, in this sense, ideological, for it neither ignores its basis in empirical reality, nor does it ignore the consequences of its research. As such, we have many examples of critical theory as political action. These range from the radical action of the 60s - critical theorists were very popular, and books such as Marcuse's One Dimensional Man were almost required reading for those out to change the world - to less radical action, such as the interventions of a variety of those influenced by critical theory (e.g., Anthony Giddens) in the political sphere.
Of course, contemporary protests against globalization find their roots in critical theory as well, although not only there. Some of this resistance has little to do with "theory" in the more rarefied sense of the term. It tends to be a moral reaction to conditions of injustice. Of course, it is more complex than that, but there is a strongly moral element in any act of political resistance.
The detractors of such action often argue that there is little morality, and rather just self-interest, irrational anarchism, or misplaced idealism. Critical theory as political action assumes, though, that our beliefs and motivations are problematic at a deep level, and that they need to change. Where market assumptions include the idea that any impulse we have is a good one if a commodity can be attached to it, critical theorists argue that we don't reflect enough on the implications of those assumptions for the social world. Choices are made within a social context, and are not simply the cause of the social context.