Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School

7/28/2019 Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School

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Normative research and critical theory

Critical theory as opposed to classical

theory Critical theory and the media

The weaknesses of critical theory


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Normative researchresearch basedupon theories and normscommonly

acceptable propositions or arguments Classical theory(Aristotle, Plato,

Arendt)

based upon ideal forms

Concerned with reasoning in order to findtruth


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Critical theory Distinguished from classical theory by Horkheimer in

Traditional and Critical Theory (1937)

Philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point isto change it Marx Theses on Feuerbach (1845)

Must be a theory of change

The change must be for the good of all humanity

It must provide the tools for change It must locate the source of domination in actual social

practices; it must project an alternative vision of a life freefrom such domination; and it must craft these tasks in theidiom of its addressees (Leonard, 1990 p.4).


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We have a number of public problemswe are ill equipped to deal with

Population growth

High cost of living

Environmental crises

See:

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators

Increase in depression

Lack of good music
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculatorshttp://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculatorshttp://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculatorshttp://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators


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Highly critical of both Capitalist and Communistsystems of government: While they widely criticised the repressive dangers of the

centralised power of communist states (such as the USSR)

They were also critical of the way the capitalist systemdeveloped similar forms of control through creating asociety full of consumers

They believed that in both Capitalist andCommunist countries, the mass media was beingused to keep the people serving either the interestsof the government (in Communism) or the wealthy(in Capitalism)

It was critical of the development of mass culture ingeneral


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Suggested that seemingly rational systems had developed tothe point of irrationality in The Dialectic of Enlightenment(1945)

What we had set out to do was nothing less than to explain whyhumanity, instead of entering a truly human state, is sinkinginto a new kind of barbarism. (preface, 1945 edition)

Control over the means of (cultural) production translates tocontrol over societyThe shift into an industrial (large scale, large audiences) mode of

cultural production ensured that cultural production wasstandardised, manufactured and hegemonicworking forthose in power.

They described the media as such a system (The Culture Industry:Enlightenment as Mass Deception, 1944)

[the cost of media access] guarantees that power will remainin the same handsnot unlike those economic decisions bywhich the establishment and running of undertakings iscontrolled in a totalitarian state (Horkheimer & Adorno 1944)

H&A assume that media control translates directly to socialcontrol (this is the hypodermic or magic bullet theory ofmedia effects).


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Marcuse furthers H&As argument that a culture ofmedia consumption gives us the illusion of a falseegalitarianism and a level social playing field whilehiding the gross inequalities in economic andcultural power

Moreover, the relationship of power (only oneofficially sanctioned form of reason) propagates asociety of conformity

That marginalises alternative/dissenting lifestyles; Places greater priority on performance (efficiency)

than pleasure (Eros and Civilisation, 1955);AND

Normalises an economic system based upon thecreation of false needs (One Dimensional Man,1964)


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Habermas suggests those in control of money andpower have undue influence over our discourses,thanks to their control over media. They can thus effectwhat we think of when we think of success or beauty

(for instance)he describes this process as thesystemic colonisation of the lifeworld (1985).

This is an immersion model of media effects, ratherthan a magic bullet model a model of agendasetting rather than direct effect

Habermas suggests that other members of the FrankfurtSchool were nave to think that pointing out the inequityof media control was enough to generate change. Hetried to establish a communicative ethics (idealspeech) to universalise the tools for change.


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Psychoanalytic TheoryErich Fromm, GillesDeleuze & Felix Guattari

Literary/Cultural Criticism - Noam Chomsky,George Monbiot, Frederick Jameson

Feminist/Gender TheoryNaomi Wolf,Donna Harraway

Structuralism/PoststructuralismLouisAlthusser, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler

Communication TheoryMark Poster,Douglas Kellner, James Der Derian


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Historically critical theory has relied upon raisingconsciousness to promote change Horkheimer and Adorno relied upon changing

the research traditions of intellectuals Marcuse thought he could encourage students

and minority groups to create a revolution Habermas relies on a model of ideal speech

(invitational rhetoric) which, once again,requires significant effort

If the Frankfurt School is right about media andculture, the loss of a critical and self aware public isalso the loss of the agent of change


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1940s and 1950sa strong senseof normality

The most intimate reactions ofhuman beings have been sothoroughly reified that the ideaof anything specific tothemselves now persists only asan utterly abstract notion:

personality scarcely signifiesanything more than shiningwhite teeth and freedom frombody odour and emotions. Thetriumph of advertising in theculture industry is thatconsumers feel compelled tobuy and use its products eventhough they see through them.

Horkheimer and Adorno (1945)

The Beatles were lambasted fortheir long hair and outrageouslyrics


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1960sCultural Revolution?

A comfortable, smooth, reasonable, democratic unfreedomprevails in advanced industrial civilization, a token of technicalprogress. Indeed, what could be more rational than thesuppression of individuality in the mechanization of sociallynecessary but painful performances; the concentration ofindividual enterprises in more effective, more productivecorporations

If the worker and his boss enjoy the same television program andvisit the same resort places. if the typist is as attractively madeup as the daughter of her employer, if the Negro owns aCadillac, if they all read the same newspaper, then thisassimilation indicates not the disappearance of classes, butthe extent to which the needs and satisfactions that serve thepreservation of the Establishment are shared by the underlyingpopulation.

Herbert Marcuse (1964)

We want structures that serve people, not people serving structures.

The more you consume, the less you live. Commodities are the opium of the people.

If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.

ince 1936 I have fought for wage increases. My father before me fought for wage

ncreases. Now I have a TV, a fridge, a Volkswagen. Yet my whole life has been a drag.

Dont negotiate with the bosses. Abolish them


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1970sFracturedcultural sophistication

Critical Theorybecame adopted by

more factions(feminism, subalternstudies, marxism,structuralism, literarytheory)

The struggles of criticaltheory became moremarketable but lessuniversal


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1980scultural

protest becomes a

commodity

Rock music isappropriated as an

embodiment of

rebellion, but is now

an inherent part ofthe system

She's got a smile that it seems to me

Reminds me of childhood memories

Where everythingWas as fresh as the bright blue sky

Now and then when I see her face

She takes me away to that special

place

And if I stare too longI'd probably break down and cry


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1990sa rejection of

cultural products

altogether

Nirvana seeks to

undermine the cleancultural finesse

You cant rely on culture

to have your revolution

You have to negotiateyour own meaning!

If there is any

With the lights out, it's less dangerous

Here we are now, entertain usI feel stupid and contagious

Here we are now, entertain us

A mulatto, an albino

A mosquito, my libido

Yeah, hey, yay

And I forget just why I taste

Oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile

I found it hard, it's hard to find

Oh well, whatever, nevermind


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The rise and fall of critical theory

Culture cynicallyproduced for markets

Like boy bands

manufactured to appeal to

teenage girls

Or news stories

Or education

Social meaning isirrelevant, anyway

The revolutionary aspect of

culture/public/youth

rebellion has been

completely commodified

and neutralised

Baby you light up my world like

nobody else,The way that you flip your hair

gets me overwhelmed,

But when you smile at the

ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know,

Oh oh,You don't know ou're beautiful


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Classical theory is concerned with understanding theworld, critical theory is concerned with changing it

The Frankfurt School of critical theory has suggestedthat the medias overt representation of powerfulinterests lies behind many of todays pressing problems

The work of the Frankfurt School has been criticised for Relying on exaggerated claims about culture (such as the

magic bullet model of media influence)

Thinking that their arguments were enough to generate

change Being inaccessible to the wider reading public

But it is also great theory to use in critiquing currentcommunicative (and cultural) practices

Documents

Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School