Adorno used class to mean proletarian class-consciousness, not objective economic position.

Evidence

Here, class is used not in the objective sense of the critique of political economy, but rather as a synonym for the class-consciousness of the proletariat. Although proletarians of course exist, Horkheimer and Adorno see themselves confronted with the question of whether ‘the proletariat’ can be said to exist in a strong sense – the very question which Lukács enthusiastically answered in the affirmative more than twenty years prior. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1050

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precisely distinguishes Adorno’s subjective/consciousness-based use of ‘class’ from the objective Marxian category — a crux for any reading of Adorno’s political economy.
• XREF: Explicitly positions Adorno against Lukács’s affirmative answer in History and Class Consciousness — exactly the historiographical terrain of this book. — connects to: Class consciousness arises from being looked at by oppressors, not from material hardship. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1028; Adorno retained class analysis while abandoning proletarian class-consciousness as impossible — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 679; Adorno derives class divisions from economic conditions rather than the reverse. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1136 (+3 more)
• ADDENDUM: The subjective/objective split in class maps the broader machinery of how political categories get contested — echoes the classed signaling dynamics in ‘Complaints About Immodesty’.

Broader Connections

• Class consciousness is formed culturally, not determined by economic experience #expands (0.85) — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 215
• Adorno derives class divisions from economic conditions rather than the reverse. #qualifies (0.80) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1136
• Adorno held that class-consciousness diminishes despite persistent class antagonism. #expands (0.78) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1402
• Adorno developed an independent theory of class beyond Marx’s #expands (0.72) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1468