Theory and Politics: Studies in the Development of Critical Theory

This important study of the relationship between historical developments
and the work of the scholars associated with the Frankfurt Institute for Social
Research yields fascinating insights into the actual workings of the Institute and
the relationships among its members. The book has already had a major impact in
Germany, where it has opened up the subject for argument and analysis by a new
generation of scholars.Theory and Politics first explores the effect of political
experience on the process of theory construction from 1930 to 1945. The central
figure in this examination is Max Horkheimer, whose work is seen as the key to the
shift in the Frankfurt School's focus from materialism to Critical Theory to a
"critique of instrumental reason." Within each of the three periods defined by these
foci the author examines external historical-political events (including the
School's emigration to America) and their reflection in the group's changing
conception of the relation of theory to practice as well as in its detailed
theoretical position. Along the way he helps to clarify such questions as the
Schools's evolving attitudes toward the Soviet Union, fascism, science, and the
desired utopia.The book then examines what may have been the strongest stage of
Critical Theory - the program for interdisciplinary research that emerged in the
early 1930s. The author acutely portrays Horkheimer's conception of a synthesis
between philosophy and empirical social science that would result in a form of
social research relevant to the central problems of the day.As Martin Jay notes in
his foreword, Helmut Dubiel has become not only an analyst of Critical Theory but a
gifted contributor to its ongoing reception and development. He is currently a
research fellow at the University of Frankfurt. Theory and Politics is included in
the series, Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas
McCarthy.