Critical Theory Working Group

Helen, Esther, and Crane tackle the first book of Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy, reading Machiavelli as a precursor to historical materialism and a radical republican. In the process, they pose the question: what can the critical theory of society learn from Machiavelli today?

Saint Nick

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Really these are 3 more sketches towards Adorno-Horkheimer’s planned histomat response to Freud’s Moses & Monotheism, which is one of the secret keys to A&H’s 1940s theory & social research

Got a little clocky on this one

Adorno in Halloween outfit

Please enjoy this photo of Adorno in full Halloween costume with his family.

In some notes that record his own personal dreams, Adorno describes one vision in particular which gave shape to his life and his desire to live despite the horrors he observed in the world. He discovers a deep longing for the reality of an after-life, after dreaming that he and his wife Gretel are in a terrible bus accident while on vacation. Following the impact, Adorno wakes up crying, and says as he looks over to his wife, ‘I would so like to have kept on being alive with you’.121 For Adorno, the utopian hope of eternal life presses him to recognize the significance of the other he meets on a daily basis. His connection to this human being presents to him the question of what kind of partner he intends to be.

poor Adorno :(

This was such a rich and helpful discussion!

Even if you haven't been obsessing over Horkheimer's Montaigne essay for the last year or so like me, you should definitely give it a listen.

Crane and Helen talk about Horkheimer's 1938 essay "Montaigne and the Function of Skepticism," which sees Horkheimer both show the skeptical core of both religious dogmatism and philosophical skepticism, as well as its changing valence throughout the development of the capitalist mode of production.

Episode 13: A User's Guide to Montaigne and the Function of Skepticism | Critical Theory Working Group Get more from Critical Theory Working Group on Patreon

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translation of Horkheimer’s “last letter” to Henryk Grossman in Jan 1943, which I read not as a breakup letter (it is one, & most do) but as a missed encounter over a shared problem: conceptualizing the unity of “evolutionary” & “revolutionary” moments in Marx’s critique of political economy 🔗 ⬇️

The “Adorno & Communism?” seminar series starts next week! Excited to talk about these texts with you all!

don’t think I ever posted this one here so: check out this birthday card / memo Adorno sends to Horkheimer in 1944

“Hey VALENTINE!
Been doin’ LOTS of worryin’…
and here’s the reason why
I don’t know how I stand with you,
YOU GREAT BIG WONDERFUL GUY!”

Happy birthday to Max Horkheimer, born on this day in 1895.

Horkheimer, 1942/44

Episode 11: Situationism and the Critique of Reification | Critical Theory Working Group Get more from Critical Theory Working Group on Patreon

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Imogen, Sebastian, and Sam discuss Situationism as a vindication of Hegelian Marxism and a critique of reified life through its various forms of appearance: artistic production, urban planning, and student life.
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ça ira-Verlag publishes apologies empire has never needed for murderers who will never read them and defends genocide in Gaza with the whitewashed words of Marxists who escaped it in Auschwitz. Palestine will be free, long live the resistance. Fuck off forever.

Ça n'ira pas (on zionism in the ‘critical theory’ scene)

Read more from “Variations”:

Episode 10: Working Through the Past with Ernst Bloch | Critical Theory Working Group Get more from Critical Theory Working Group on Patreon

POD EP10: Esther & Sebastian discuss Bloch’s 1932 fragment Nonsychronism & the Obligation to its Dialectics, a text that “takes its place inappropriately” (Benjamin)—on revolutions past, reaction present, & utopias future!
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Of interest for people who want to see how Adorno deduces how neo-Kantians treat teleology as merely heuristic, how Horkheimer thinks error and development, and some cool connections in the intro on post-Kantian philsci!

Critical Methods in the Social Sciences (1940) Two Lectures: Adorno on G. Simmel; Horkheimer on W. Dilthey.

where are my method-heads at you all are going to love this one

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ICYMI: Critique of the Podcast Form has an RSS feed and is now available on all podcast streaming platforms except Spotify!
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The Anime Question | Podcast Episode on RSS.com The culture industry is at it again! Their new weapon: anime. Their strategy? The media mix. In this episode, the anime subcommittee of the CTWG tackle the anime media-form by discussing Marc Steinber...

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But we also have an RSS feed, which allows you to listen to the pod on all major podcast platforms (except Spotify, for obvious reasons): media.rss.com/critique-of-...

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In this episode, the anime subcommittee of the CTWG tackle the anime media-form by discussing Marc Steinberg’s anime’s media mix. We talk about modern anime’s history, the emergence of the media mix, and transition from Fordism to post-Fordism.

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The culture industry is at it again! Their new weapon: anime. Their strategy? The media mix.

🫡

Happy to share that my first article in the academic context has been published also representing the Critical Theory Working Group! @crittheoryworkgrp.bsky.social !!!

🫶