Barnard College

Department of Political Science

POLS W4150 CRISIS AND CRITIQUE: THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL
Assist. Prof. Ayten Gndodu
LeFrak Center 234 (Barnard Hall)
Office hours: Th 12:00-2:00 pm
agundogdu@barnard.edu

Spring 2016
POLS W4150
Tue, Th 10:10-11:25 am
Milbank 302

INTRODUCTION
The Institute of Social Research, founded in 1923 for the purposes of revitalizing Marxist studies
in Germany and attached to the University of Frankfurt, became the source of what is now known
as the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. This course centers on the writings of the key figures
associated with the first generation of the Frankfurt School: Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno,
Walter Benjamin, Franz Neumann, Otto Kirchheimer, Friedrich Pollock, and Herbert Marcuse. In
addition, it includes various background readings from thinkers whose works were key references
for the critical theorists of the Frankfurt School: Immanuel Kant, G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx,
Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Max Weber, and Gyrgy Lukcs.
The course takes the Holocaust as a turning point for the members of this group, as this event
brought their conception of critical theory into a crisis, urged them to rethink their assumptions
about the relationship between theory and practice, dampened their hopes for revolutionary social
change, and compelled them to undertake a much more radical critique of the Enlightenment ideas
of reason and progress. We will study the changing and divergent trajectories of critical theory by
covering a wide range of material, including different perspectives on reason and rationality, the
relationship between theory and practice, intertwinement of freedom and domination in modernity,
pathologies of mass society, and the possibilities of resistance and emancipation.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon the completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate broad factual knowledge of the intellectual origins, key figures, works, and
approaches in the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory;
2. Demonstrate an informed understanding of the political and normative arguments of
selected theorists about key concepts (e.g. progress, Enlightenment, reification, myth,
emancipation, instrumental reason);
3. Compare and contrast different interpretations or analyses of the main problems or
phenomena studied by selected theorists (e.g. industrial capitalism, fascism, anti-Semitism,
modern technology, mass culture, democracy);
4. Write focused essays analyzing the key arguments, concepts, and issues, or questions in
assigned readings;
5. Develop a clear and persuasive argument supported by textual evidence.
OFFICE HOURS
I strongly encourage you to make use of my office hours (Thursday, 12-2 pm) for purposes of
discussing all matters pertaining to the course. If you cannot make my office hours, please do not
hesitate to e-mail me to set up an appointment. In your e-mail, please give me at least three options
for meeting times to make sure that we can schedule our meeting as efficiently as possible.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Class Participation (15%)
Close reading essay, due Feb 25, 10:10 am (20%)
o Undergraduate (~1,250 words)
o Graduate (~2,000 words)
Comparative analysis essay, due April 5, 10:10 am (30%)
o Undergraduate (~1,500-1,750 words)
o Graduate (~2,500 words)
Interpretive essay, due May 10, 12 pm (35%)
o Undergraduate (~1800-2000 words)
o Graduate (~5,000 words)
Class Participation:
This is a relatively small lecture class, and the success of the class depends on the intensive
participation of each and every student. Each class session will start with a lecture on the main
issues raised by the assigned readings, which will be followed by class discussion. If you must miss
a class meeting because of illness, family emergency, or a religious holiday that forbids work, you
are expected to inform me beforehand. If you have difficulty in public speaking, please do not
hesitate to discuss this issue with me; you might also consider attending the workshops organized
by the Barnard Speaking Fellows Program: https://speaking.barnard.edu/forstudents
Writing Assignments:
The writing assignments consist of three essays that aim to strengthen your skills of critical reading,
conceptual thinking, textual interpretation, and analytical writing. If you have problems with
technical aspects of academic writing, please consider attending the grammar and mechanics
workshops organized by the Writing Center: https://writing.barnard.edu/grammar. You can also
schedule appointments with the writing fellows at the Center to get peer feedback on your
drafts/outlines: https://writing.barnard.edu/students/writing-center
Close reading essay:
For this assignment, you will receive a list of short passages selected from the assigned readings.
You will be expected to choose one of these passages and provide a textual analysis by interpreting
that passage in relation to the entire reading it is selected from and other relevant class readings.
The essay should provide a nuanced and plausible thesis about the passage, focus on those details
that are particularly important for the theorists overall argument, draw on textual evidence
accurately and compellingly to support your claims about the passage, present your ideas clearly,
and have a well-organized structure.
Comparative analysis essay:
This assignment will build on the skills of critical reading, conceptual thinking, textual
interpretation, and analytical writing you exercised in the first essay. It will allow you to further
develop these skills by engaging in a comparative analysis, which can take different forms; some
possibilities might include comparison of two theorists working on the same concept (e.g.
progress) or phenomenon (e.g. the Nazi state); tracing the intellectual evolution of a theorist by
examining works written during different periods (e.g. changes in Horkheimers understanding of
critique). You will receive a list of questions for this assignment, but you can also develop your
own question in consultation with me as long as you give advance notice.
Interpretive essay:

This assignment will help you refine the skills exercised in the previous assignments by responding
to an open-ended question about one of the key themes/problems examined by the theorists of the
Frankfurt School: e.g. the relationship of reason to domination and freedom, the meaning of
progress, the connection between theory and practice, and the possibilities of emancipation in the
context of mass society. You will receive a list of questions for this assignment, but you can also
develop your own question in consultation with me as long as you give advance notice. Since this
is the final assignment, the essay should demonstrate your mastery of the materials studied
throughout the semester, engaging with readings from different weeks.
ACCESSIBILITY
Students who may need disability-related accommodations are encouraged to see me as soon as
possible. They should also contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) in 008 Milbank Hall.
For further information, please check http://barnard.edu/ods.
COURSE POLICIES
Late Assignments:
Completion of all assignments is a necessary condition for passing this course. In addition, I urge
you to submit all assignments on time to avoid late penalties. Please note that the first two essays
must be submitted at the beginning of the class session that they are due (Feb 25 and Apr 5, 10:10
am); since we do not have a final exam, the final essay is due by the end of the projected final exam
time (May 10, 12 pm).
Late turn-ins will be significantly penalized (one-third of a letter grade per day after the deadline).
For example, an A- paper due Tuesday but handed in on Wednesday will receive a B+.
Extensions will be given only in the case of documented illness, family emergency, or other crisis
situation (please bring any form of documentation available).
Religious Holidays:
If you cannot attend class due to religious observance, please let me know in advance; absence due
to religious observance is excused. If you cannot complete an assignment by the deadline due to a
religious holiday that forbids work, please inform me in advance to make necessary arrangements.
Incompletes:
I do not grant incompletes except under the most extraordinary of circumstances.
Academic Honesty and Barnard College Honor Code:
Students affirm that all work turned in is their own and that they have fully and accurately cited
every written source, including web-based sources, used in their writing. Regardless of institutional
affiliation, all students taking this course must adhere to the Barnard College honor code. The honor
code considers it dishonest to ask for, give, or receive help in examinations or quizzes, to use any
papers or books not authorized by the instructor in examinations, or to present oral work or written
work which is not entirely our own, unless otherwise approved by the instructor. If in doubt about
any of these provisions or you would like to discuss these matters further, please seek guidance
from the instructor.
For more information on academic integrity, please see:
https://library.barnard.edu/find-books/guides/plagiarism
http://www.college.columbia.edu/academics/integrity
https://writing.barnard.edu/other-writing-and-research-resources

COURSE EXPECTATIONS
1. Submit all writing assignments on time; you need to submit all the essays to qualify for a
passing grade in this class.
2. Regular class participation is imperative; relevant and meaningful contributions to the class
discussion are crucial for the success of this class.
Your participation in class should follow some courtesy rules: Please respect each
participants right to hold different opinions; question ideas without targeting persons.
Keep your comments concise and focused, and aim at supporting your contributions by
providing textual evidence from the assigned readings. Your comments should also reflect
careful listening of points made by other students. For our discussions to be as inclusive as
possible, you should be mindful of the time you take as you speak and allow others to
contribute to the discussion.
3. Read assigned texts in time for their discussion in class; lectures will complement, not
substitute for, the assigned readings. You are expected to bring the assigned reading(s) to class;
frequent references will be made to the reading(s) during the lectures and discussion.
4. Come to class on time and remain for the entire session; if for some reason you have to be late
one day or must leave early, please tell me in advance, and then arrive/depart as unobtrusively
as possible.
5. Please turn off all electronic devices before the class starts. Laptops and other electronic
devices are not allowed because of their negative impact on the learning experience.
This policy is based on scientific research that demonstrates the negative impact of laptop
use on academic performance, especially on conceptual understanding. For further
information, see http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-learning-secret-don-t-takenotes-with-a-laptop/.
6. To maintain a professional atmosphere that is free of distraction, please do not bring food to
class.
READINGS
Books
G. W. F. Hegel, Reason in History, trans. Robert S. Hartman (Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1997).
Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical
Fragments (Stanford University Press, 2002).
You can purchase the books from Book Culture (536 W. 112th St., 212-865-1588). The books will
be also available on reserve at Barnard Library.
Online Readings
Additional required readings are available as electronic resources via CLIO or on Courseworks
(marked as CW in the Course Calendar); please check https://courseworks.columbia.edu/ for
regular updates.

COURSE CALENDAR
I. Introduction to the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory

01/19 (T) Course introduction

01/21 (Th)
Max Horkheimer, The Present Situation of Social Philosophy and the Tasks of an Institute for
Social Research (1931), in Between Philosophy and Social Science: Selected Early Writings
(Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993), pp. 1-14. Available as an e-book on CLIO
Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of
Social Research, 1923-1950 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996 [1973]), pp. 3-40.
Available as an e-book on CLIO
Detlev J. Peukert, The Weimar Republic: The Crisis of Classical Modernity, trans. Richard
Deveson (New York: Hill and Wang, 1992), pp. 247-272. CW
II. Modernity and the Legacies of Critique
01/26 (T)
Immanuel Kant, Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Intent; What is
Enlightenment?; A Renewed Attempt to Answer the Question: Is the Human Race
Continually Improving? (from The Contest of Faculties) in Political Writings, ed. Hans Reiss
(Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 41-60, 176-190. CW
Immanuel Kant, Preface (to the first edition) in Critique of Pure Reason, trans. and ed. Paul
Guyer and Allen W. Wood (Cambridge, UK and New York: Cambridge University Press,
1998), pp. 99-105. CW
01/28 (Th)
Kant (cont.)
G. W. F. Hegel, Reason in History, trans. Robert S. Hartman (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1997).
02/02 (T)
Hegel, Reason in History (cont.)
02/04 (Th)
Karl Marx, For a Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing; Estranged Labor (section of
Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844); Theses on Feuerbach, excerpt from The
German Ideology in The Marx-Engels Reader, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York and London:
Norton, 1978, 2nd ed.), pp. 12-15, 70-81, 143-145, 146-175. CW
Karl Marx, The Fetishism of Commodity and its Secret, in Capital, vol. 1, trans. Ben Fowkes
(London: Penguin, 1976), pp. 163-177. CW
III. Resetting the Task of Critique
02/09 (T)
Max Horkheimer, Materialism and Morality (1933), in Between Philosophy and Social
Science: Selected Early Writings (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993), pp. 15-47. Available as
an e-book on CLIO
Immanuel Kant, selections from Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, ed. Mary Gregor
and Jens Timmermann (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012, Revised
edition), pp. 40-51, 62-64. Available as an e-book on CLIO

02/11 (Th)
Max Horkheimer, On the Problem of Truth (1935), in Between Philosophy and Social
Science: Selected Early Writings (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1993), pp. 177-215. Available
as an e-book on CLIO
02/16 (T)
Max Horkheimer, Traditional and Critical Theory (1937), in Critical Theory: Selected
Essays (New York: Continuum, 2002), pp. 188-243. CW
IV. Critical Theory in the Face of Nazism: Politics, Economy, and the Law
02/18 (Th)
Friedrich Pollock, State Capitalism: Its Possibilities and Limitations (1941), Studies in
Philosophy and Social Science 9 (1941): 200-225. CW
Friedrich Pollock, Is National Socialism a New Order? Studies in Philosophy and Social
Science 9 (1941): 440-455. CW
Franz Neumann, Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism, 1933-1944
(Oxford University Press, 1944), pp. 221-234. CW
02/23 (T)
Max Horkheimer, The Jews and Europe (1938), in Critical Theory and Society: A Reader,
ed. Stephen Eric Bronner and Douglas Mackay Kellner (New York: Routledge, 1989), pp. 7794. CW
Max Horkheimer, The Authoritarian State (1940), in The Essential Frankfurt School Reader,
ed. Andrew Arato and Eike Gerhardt (New York: Continuum, 1982), pp. 95-117. CW
02/25 (Th) 1st essay due at the beginning of class
Otto Kirchheimer, Criminal Law in National Socialist Germany, Studies in Philosophy and
Social Science 8 (1940): 444-463. CW
Otto Kirchheimer, The Legal Order of National Socialism, Studies in Philosophy and Social
Science 9 (1941): 456-75. CW
Franz Neumann, Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism, 1933-1944
(Oxford University Press, 1944), pp. 440-458. CW
V: Critical Theory in the Face of Nazism: Art, Culture, and Technology
03/01 (T)
Max Horkheimer, The End of Reason, Studies in Philosophy and Social Science 9 (1941):
366-388. CW
Herbert Marcuse, Some Social Implications of Modern Technology, Studies in Philosophy
and Social Science 9 (1941): 414-439. CW
03/03 (Th)
Walter Benjamin, Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Production (1936), in Illuminations,
ed. Hannah Arendt (New York: Schocken Books, 1968), pp. 217-251. CW
03/08 (T)
Theodor W. Adorno, On the Fetish Character in Music and Regression of Listening (1938),
in The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture (London and New York: Routledge,
1991), pp. 270-299. CW

 Georg Lukcs, excerpt from Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat (1923) in
History and Class Consciousness, trans. Rodney Livingstone (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press,
1971), pp. 83-103. CW
VI: Critique of Progress and Reason
03/10 (Th)
Walter Benjamin, Eduard Fuchs, Collector and Historian (1937), trans. Knut Tarnowski,
New German Critique, no. 5 (Spring 1975), pp. 27-58. Accessible via CLIO
Walter Benjamin, Theses on the Concept of History (1940), in Illuminations, ed. Hannah
Arendt (New York: Schocken Books, 1968), pp. 253-264. CW
03/15 (T) and 03/17 (Th) Spring Holidays
03/22 (T)
Theodor Adorno, Progress (1964) in Can One Live After Auschwitz? A Philosophical Reader,
ed. Rolf Tiedemann (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2003), pp. 126-145. CW
Theodor Adorno, The Possibility of Philosophy, Dialectics Not a Standpoint, After
Auschwitz, and Metaphysics and Culture, in Negative Dialectics, trans. E. B. Ashton
(London and New York: Routledge, 1973), pp. 3-6, 361-368. CW
03/24 (Th) No class meeting; I will be away at a conference.
Readings in preparation for Dialectic of Enlightenment:
Friedrich Nietzsche, excerpts from On the Genealogy of Morals, ed. Walter Kaufmann (New
York: Vintage Books, 1989), pp. 57-62, 65-67, 84-87, 95-96, 116-125, 148-156, 159-163. CW
Max Weber, excerpts from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. Talcott
Parsons (London and New York: Routledge, 1992), pp. xxviii-xxxix, 13-37, 102-125.
Available as an e-book on CLIO
Revisit Lukcs (from 03/08)
03/29 (T)
Lecture and discussion based on the readings for 3/24.
03/31 (Th)
Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Preface to the New Edition (1969), Preface
(1944 and 1947), and The Concept of Enlightenment, Dialectic of Enlightenment:
Philosophical Fragments (Stanford University Press, 2002), pp. xi-xviii, 1-34.
04/05 (T) 2nd essay due at the beginning of class
Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Elements of Anti-Semitism: Limits of
Enlightenment, Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments (Stanford University
Press, 2002), pp. 137-172.
VII. Pathologies of Mass Society: The Culture Industry
04/07 (Th)
Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass
Deception, from Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments (Stanford University
Press, 2002), pp. 94-136.

04/12 (T)
Theodor Adorno, Culture Industry Reconsidered (1963), New German Critique, no. 6 (Fall
1975): 12-19. Accessible via CLIO
Theodor Adorno, The Perennial Fashion Jazz, Critical Theory and Society: A Reader, ed.
Stephen Eric Bronner and Douglas Mackay Kellner (New York: Routledge, 1989), pp. 267279. CW
Theodor Adorno, How to Look at Television, The Quarterly of Film Radio and Television 8,
no. 3 (Spring 1954), 213-235. Accessible via CLIO
VIII. Pathologies of Mass Society: Psychological Sources of Repression
04/14 (Th)
Sigmund Freud, excerpts from Civilization and its Discontents, in The Freud Reader, ed.
Peter Gay (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989), pp. 735-742, 753-772.
CW
Theodor Adorno, Freudian Theory and the Pattern of Fascist Propaganda (1951), in The
Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture (London and New York: Routledge, 1991),
pp. 132-156. CW
04/19 (T)
Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization (Boston: Beacon Press, 1955, Introduction, chs. 4, 7,
11 (pp. 3-8, 78-105, 140-158, 222-237). Available as an e-book on CLIO
IX. Democratic Conformism and the Possibilities of Resistance
04/21 (Th)
Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man (Boston: Beacon Press, 1964), Introduction, chs. 1-3
(pp. iii-xviii, 1-83). Available as an e-book on CLIO
04/26 (T)
Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man (Boston: Beacon Press, 1964), chs. 4, 9-10 (pp. 84120, 225-257). Available as an e-book on CLIO
04/28 (Th)
Herbert Marcuse, Problem of Violence and the Radical Opposition (1967), Liberation from
the Affluent Society (1967), Failure of the New Left? (1975), in The New Left and the
1960s: Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse, vol. 3, ed. Douglas Kellner (London and New
York: Routledge, 2005), pp. 57-86, 183-191. CW
Herbert Marcuse, The End of Utopia (1967), The Reification of the Proletariat (1978), in
Marxism, Revolution and Utopia: Collected Papers of Herbert Marcuse, vol. 6 ed. Douglas
Kellner (London and New York: Routledge, 2014), pp. 249-263, 392-395. CW
***** 3rd (final) essay due May 10, 12 pm *****