Critical Theory: The Legacy of the Frankfurt School

The Institute for Social Research was opened at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, in Frankfurt, on June 22 1924, and later gained fame for the works of Adorno, Benjamin, Fromm, Marcuse and Habermas as the ‘Frankfurt School’. This series addresses the question of what the Frankfurt School stands for, as well as the topicality of the critical theory it developed. Why is critical theory important with regard to the decline of democracy, unjust socio-economic inequality and ecological catastrophe? The complexity of these three related issues calls for an interdisciplinary approach that is advocated at universities today, but often comes to nothing. In contrast, the Frankfurt School succeeded in looking at the problems of their time through the lenses of economics, social psychology, cultural theory, law, aesthetics, historical science, cultural anthropology and philosophy. This allowed them to demonstrate, among other things, that capitalism is partly incompatible with democracy. Amid an ‘age of extremes’ (Eric Hobsbawn), the Frankfurt School developed a social psychology whose heuristic value can also be made fruitful in the 21st century to connect the psyche of the individual with the development of society. 
Critical theory also reflects on the relationship between art and society, and raises the topical question of whether works of art offer a view of a world in which people are not alienated. With its critical theory of society, the Frankfurt School wants to contribute to the emancipation of those who are exploited and excluded. Unfortunately, there is hardly any room for this connection between theory and practice in times of academic capitalism.

The individual lectures
1. The Topicality of an Interdisciplinary Research Programme (5 Nov)
2. Capitalism without Democracy: Old and New Fascism (12 Nov)
3. Social Psychology amid an Age of Extremes (19 Nov)
4. Art and Alienation (26 Nov)
5. Theory and Practice (3 Dec)