Horkheimer dropped the label ‘critical theory’ to dodge anti-Communist scrutiny in America.

Evidence

Horkheimer had long since begun to avoid even the expression critical theory of society'. Anyone who wanted to avoid difficulties had good reason to do so in a country in which spotting un-American’ thinking was increasingly becoming an important weapon in the struggle for power between American politicians. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1666

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The name ‘critical theory’ actually distanced Horkheimer from explicit Marxism. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 756; Horkheimer abandoned explicit capitalism critique to protect American goodwill — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1722; Late Horkheimer embraced anti-Communist and pro-American rhetoric — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 1726 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Horkheimer abandoned explicit capitalism critique to protect American goodwill #corroborates (0.85) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1722
• Late Horkheimer embraced anti-Communist and pro-American rhetoric #corroborates (0.75) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 1726
• Horkheimer himself had renounced the critique of political economy by the 1940s #corroborates (0.72) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 898