Judaism socialism and psychoanalysis fused into a shared Frankfurt programme

Evidence

Marx stressed the economic or “material” foundations of society and politics, viewing culture and ideology as manifestations of economic systems like capitalism. He is most famous for his writings on revolution and political transformation, inciting the embattled “workers of the world” to organize and throw off the “chains” of their oppression. As the 20th century wore on, Marx’s theories of ideology, which were used to explain why revolution was not forthcoming, were eventually merged with Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis by members of the Frankfurt School, first in Germany and then in the United States. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 100 (#expands, via linked claim)

Horkheimer and Adorno’s view of themselves as hedonistic thinkers concentrating on the recovery and transcendence of instinct developed into a cautious identification with an interpretation of Judaism as a historical form of determinate negation. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1434 (#expands, via linked claim)

One important similarity, which is especially crucial for an understanding of Critical Theory, is the old cabalistic idea that speech rather than pictures was the only way to approach God. The distance between Hebrew, the sacred language, and the profane speech of the Diaspora made its impact on Jews who were distrustful of the current universe of discourse. This, so Habermas has argued, parallels the idealist critique of empirical reality, which reached its height in Hegelian dialectics. Although one cannot draw a very exact line from the Frankfurt School’s Jewish antecedents to its dialectical theory, perhaps some predisposition did exist. The same might be argued for its ready acceptance of psychoanalysis, which proved especially congenial to assimilated Jewish intellectuals. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 168 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Frankfurt psychoanalysis institute formed through personal Jewish intellectual networks in 1926; Several future Frankfurt School figures shared socialism and Jewish revival; Marxist theories of false consciousness merged with Freudian psychoanalysis in the Frankfurt School. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 100 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Marxist theories of false consciousness merged with Freudian psychoanalysis in the Frankfurt School. #expands (0.95) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 100
• The early Frankfurt School’s instinct-liberation project shifted toward a theological reading of Judaism #expands (0.86) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1434
• Jewish linguistic tradition predisposed assimilated intellectuals toward dialectical theory and psychoanalysis #expands (0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 168
• Psychology-socialism debates shaped Horkheimer’s turn to Freudian theory #expands (0.84) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 317
• The Institut subordinated Jewish identity and anti-Semitism to social class analysis #complicates (0.82) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 162
• Psychoanalysis is too culture-specific for general cultural critique while Marxism is not #complicates (0.74) — Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean, The Spivak Reader, 1449
• German Jews conceived assimilation as a five-generation trade of Jewishness for Europe #complicates (0.72) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 424