Critical Theory / Frankfurt School / Cultural Marxism

[Widerstand]

I know it played some role in the 60s German student movement (Dutchke was strongly influenced by it I believe) and influenced some Marxist psychologists (Fromm comes to mind), but does it have any relevance today? If yes, are there any movements and organizations emphasizing it? If not, why do modern movements disregard it?

[Invincible Summer]

I may be wrong, but I think it's still got some prominence within sociology

[Apoi_Viitor]

To be honest, I think most of the Frankfurt School's ideas died out with them. I believe various counter-culture movements within the US kind of worked with the ideas of Marcuse, Fromm, and Adorno (among others), but I have yet to see a modern re-working or re-utilizing of their Critical Theory, amongst relevant Leftist movements. I believe their main claim to fame was their interest in applying a Marxist analysis to all sectors of life, not just the 'workplace' or 'political realm'. However, I've read only a small number of members from the 'Frankfurt School' (I've really only read Marcuse, Adorno, and Habermas), so my understanding is probably limited.

In Foucault's 'History of Sexuality', he harshly critiques the Freudo-Marxist 'repressive hypothesis' (which is the basis for Eros and Civilization, and a key part of the Critical Theory of the 'Frankfurt School'):
"Rather than the uniform concern to hide sex, rather than the general prudishness of language, what distinguishes these last three centuries is the variety, the wide dispersion of devices that were invented for speaking about it, for having it be spoken about, for inducing it to speak of itself, for listening, recording, transcribing, and redistributing what is said about it....Rather than massive censorship, beginning with the verbal proprieties of the Age of Reason, what was involved was a regulated and polymorphous incitement to discourse."

[Widerstand]

I may be wrong, but I think it's still got some prominence within sociology

Hmmm. That's interesting, you wouldn't happen to know any more about this?


They were too academic and too non-proletarian.

How so?


To be honest, I think most of the Frankfurt School's ideas died out with them. I believe various counter-culture movements within the US kind of worked with the ideas of Marcuse, Fromm, and Adorno (among others), but I have yet to see a modern re-working or re-utilizing of their Critical Theory, amongst relevant Leftist movements. I believe their main claim to fame was their interest in applying a Marxist analysis to all sectors of life, not just the 'workplace' or 'political realm'. However, I've read only a small number of members from the 'Frankfurt School' (I've really only read Marcuse, Adorno, and Habermas), so my understanding is probably limited.

Yeah, I understand that much about them. I have a book here on Critical Theory (which I have yet to read), and there were in fact several books/pamphlets related to Frankfurt School thought at every leftist book store or fair I've been to in Germany. It could be that it's just a German thing though.

[Dean]

In Foucault's 'History of Sexuality', he harshly critiques the Freudo-Marxist 'repressive hypothesis' (which is the basis for Eros and Civilization, and a key part of the Critical Theory of the 'Frankfurt School'):
"Rather than the uniform concern to hide sex, rather than the general prudishness of language, what distinguishes these last three centuries is the variety, the wide dispersion of devices that were invented for speaking about it, for having it be spoken about, for inducing it to speak of itself, for listening, recording, transcribing, and redistributing what is said about it....Rather than massive censorship, beginning with the verbal proprieties of the Age of Reason, what was involved was a regulated and polymorphous incitement to discourse."

This may apply to sexuality, but it doesn't apply to social thought in general. As far as I can tell, any critical assessment of society is actively dissuaded and the media has been a decreasingly valuable resource for people's understanding of the world.

And the fact that this quote is inapplicable to general theory is critical - because that's precisely what differentiated the Frankfurt school from the orthodox Freudians - they didn't view sexuality as the fundamental driving (and the primary repressed) instinct.

[RED DAVE]

To be honest, I think most of the Frankfurt School's ideas died out with them. I believe various counter-culture movements within the US kind of worked with the ideas of Marcuse, Fromm, and Adorno (among others), but I have yet to see a modern re-working or re-utilizing of their Critical Theory, amongst relevant Leftist movements. I believe their main claim to fame was their interest in applying a Marxist analysis to all sectors of life, not just the 'workplace' or 'political realm'. However, I've read only a small number of members from the 'Frankfurt School' (I've really only read Marcuse, Adorno, and Habermas), so my understanding is probably limited.I think you're basically correct.


In Foucault's 'History of Sexuality', he harshly critiques the Freudo-Marxist 'repressive hypothesis' (which is the basis for Eros and Civilization, and a key part of the Critical Theory of the 'Frankfurt School'):

"Rather than the uniform concern to hide sex, rather than the general prudishness of language, what distinguishes these last three centuries is the variety, the wide dispersion of devices that were invented for speaking about it, for having it be spoken about, for inducing it to speak of itself, for listening, recording, transcribing, and redistributing what is said about it....Rather than massive censorship, beginning with the verbal proprieties of the Age of Reason, what was involved was a regulated and polymorphous incitement to discourse."Boy does this sound like a load of shit!

RED DAVE