Horkheimer’s racket theory saw survival as compulsory team membership

Evidence

The elaboration of the sociological motif was carried out in the years that followed under the rubric of a theory of the racket phase of society (see pp. 318-19). This referred to a form of totalitarian monopoly capitalism, a society in which the insignificant individual could only survive as part of an association, a team; in which, to preserve himself, the individual had to knuckle down everywhere, work together as part of a team, be ready and able to do everything', be always watchful and ready, always aiming at some immediate practical goal’. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1306 (#expands, via linked claim)

Kirchheimer was the last of those who contributed to the Institute’s war effort by taking up a full-time job in Washington. He was the only one who had an essay ready in 1943The Question of Sovereignty', in which he briefly mentioned the concept of the racket but did not manage to make its central significance plausible. Kirchheimer's article appeared in 1944 in the Journal of Politics. Parts of Horkheimer's essay were later incorporated into Eclipse of Reason. The theory of the racket therefore remained an unfinished torso developed by Horkheimer and Adorno. The most important ideas from it were incorporated into the Dialectic of Enlightenment, without Neumann or Kirchheimer or others having collaborated closely to check the extremely drastic, far-reaching assumptions involved against concrete economic, political and legal material. — <cite>Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1335</cite> (#corroborates`, via linked claim)

This was why the last part of Neumann’s objection, behind which lay the whole weight of his book, was decisive: For a whole year I have been doing nothing but studying economic processes in Germany, and I have up till now not found a shred of evidence to show that Germany is in a situation remotely resembling state capitalism.' … As I have boundless confidence in your research on economic processes in Germany, I do believe your statement that Germany is not in a situation remotely resembling that of state capitalism. On the other hand, I cannot free myself from Engels's view that society is moving towards precisely that. I must therefore assume that the approach of such a period very probably still threatens us. And this seems to me to a great extent to prove the value of Pollock's construct in providing a basis for discussion of a topical problem, in spite of all its deficiencies. — <cite>Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1176</cite> (#qualifies`, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Horkheimer theorized totalitarian monopoly capitalism as a racket phase of society — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1306; The racket theory stayed an unverified torso built only by Horkheimer and Adorno — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1335; The individual’s psyche recapitulates the structure of a racket — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 40 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer theorized totalitarian monopoly capitalism as a racket phase of society #expands (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1306
• The racket theory stayed an unverified torso built only by Horkheimer and Adorno #corroborates (0.75) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1335
• The individual’s psyche recapitulates the structure of a racket #expands (0.72) — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia, 40
• Horkheimer’s state capitalism theory rested on speculative philosophy of history rather than evidence #qualifies (0.72) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1176
• Horkheimer rejected state capitalism theory but kept the rackets concept throughout his life. #corroborates (0.70) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 607