Adorno extends Marx by linking systemic antagonisms to every individual’s consciousness

Evidence

Precisely because the antagonisms are necessary, and indeed in this way indicate the irrationality of the system, they make a final rational mastery of the social whole impossible. The discomfort in the individual consciousness, the universality of neuroses as a consequence of internalised antagonisms, is predetermined by society. The irrational danger of the system exploding is constantly raised by these conscious dispositions, which retrospectively leads to the formation in individuals of a universal fear. Marx had not yet gone so far in his theory. His concept of the class individual prevented him from relating the antagonisms of the system as a whole to the consciousness of all individuals. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1389

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader revisionist reading of Adorno as extending (not escaping) Marx’s critique of political economy — the reader’s core purpose for this book. — connects to: Adorno extends Marx from coercive structures to the lived possibilities of individual self-determination. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 917; Adorno treats exchange as a principle shaping thought and feeling to the innermost being. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 930; Adorno extended Marx’s species-concept by deriving individuality itself from economic relations. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1255 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: What exactly was ‘Marx’s concept of the class individual,’ and how did it foreclose analyzing the neuroses/consciousness of all individuals? Worth chasing in Grundrisse/Capital readings.