Frankfurt School and Critical Theory are distinct terms of different scope

Evidence

The best way of defining the Frankfurt School is surely to use the term to refer to the period of the older Critical Theory, for which the Institute of Social Research, headed by Horkheimer and Adorno, is a kind of institutional symbol. The concept of Critical Theory, in contrast, should be taken in a broader sensedistinct from the focus of Horkheimer, Adorno and the Institute of Social Researchto refer to a form of thought that is committed to the abolition of domination and that stands in a Marxist tradition open to a wide variety of associations. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2757

Categorization

• DEFINE: Wiggershaus closes the book with a precise terminological distinction: Frankfurt School names the Horkheimer-Adorno-ISR era; Critical Theory names a broader Marxist-abolitionist tradition.