No evidence existed that the working class prefigured a superior economic order

Evidence

Neither Lederer, Kracauer, Horkheimer nor Fromm offered concrete evidence of anything which would show, in any sphere, that those who were currently in subjection represented an anticipation of a superior economic system and a superior form of existence. But this could only result in retreat towards a choice between the masses of the working class, who identified themselves with the prevailing conditions, and a few advanced groups. These groups, however, could no longer be expected to have any consistently revolutionary advantages over progressive middle-class groups. A belief in the dialectics of the forces of production and productive relations, a belief that the forces of production were rattling the chains of capitalist productive relations, was more decisive for Horkheimer’s faith in the prospects for revolutionary change than the observation of class-specific revolutionary tendencies. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 473

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: This diagnosis — revolutionary faith resting on dialectics of productive forces rather than on any observable class tendency — cuts to the core tension of Western Marxism’s entire trajectory.
• XREF: connects to: Wright rejected Marxism’s presumption of the working class’s inherent progressiveness

Broader Connections

• Wright rejected Marxism’s presumption of the working class’s inherent progressiveness #corroborates (0.85)