Rival American institutions blocked the Frankfurt School’s early reception in exile.

Evidence

Although the Studien was an important link in the Institut’s own development, its impact on the outside world was mixed. Largely because of its appearance in German, the American academic community was slow to assimilate its findings and methodology. This process was not abetted by the extremely hostile review the work received in the New School’s journal, Social Research, at the hands of Hans Speier. Not only did the Institut’s Marxist tinge arouse the New School’s ire, but so did its enthusiasm for Freud. Max Wertheimer, the founder of Gestalt psychology, was the doyen of the New School’s psychologists from 1934 until his death in 1943. His disdain for psychoanalysis was echoed in Speier’s disparaging review. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 433

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the theme of the Institut’s difficult reception among other exile/intellectual communities in New York. — connects to: The exiled Frankfurt Institute isolated itself from American academic life while resenting its marginalization. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1045