The Politics of Critical Theory: online conversation with Alex Demirović

Описание: Alex Demirović is a Senior Fellow at the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung and an associated member of the Centre for Social Critique. He is Apl. Professor for political science and political sociology at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. His research focuses on Marxist state theory, economic democracy, and critical theory.

Topic:
When Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer returned from exile to the Federal Republic of Germany after the war, they faced a radically transformed political landscape. No longer on the margins of society, they had to navigate the challenge of criticizing society from within the university. But how can critical theory be institutionally anchored? Is it possible to uphold anti-authoritarian and democratic ideals within academia and public discourse? What roles should critical intellectuals play inside and outside the university, especially in times of right-wing resurgence? In his major work on Frankfurt School critical theory, The Nonconformist Intellectual (Der nonkonformistische Intellektuelle), forthcoming in English translation, Alex Demirović provides an in-depth analysis of Adorno and Horkheimer’s political, intellectual, and institutional practices in 1950s and 1960s West Germany. The revival of critical theory in Frankfurt after National Socialism was far from neutral—it was fraught with challenges, conflicts, and controversies. This period reveals some of the key dilemmas in realizing the political potential of critical theory. But Alex Demirović himself has always been a nonconformist intellectual. His memoir, Wenn man nichts will, erkennt man nichts, traces his own journey—from a working-class upbringing to the New Left and critical social theory, which must continuously renew itself to preserve the possibility of emancipation. Jacob Blumenfeld will speak with Alex Demirović about the politics of critical theory in the Frankfurt School, the role of critical intellectuals in society, and his own experiences in the New Left and beyond.