1. WESTERN MARXISM and the FRANKFURT SCHOOL

2. KEY ISSUES 1. What happened to Marxism after Marx? 2. Multiple different Marxism s 3. Changing nature of Western societies - Why has the revolution not yet happened? 4. New types of Marxism: -FOR understanding new social conditions -Produced BY new social conditions

3. History after Marx Marx dies in 1883 Marx’s legacy: -Intellectual: social theory -Practical: Socialist movement (“The International”)

4. Changing social conditions in the West 1880s to 1930s 1)Appearance of mass media (esp. cheap newspapers) and mass leisure - Cinema (beginnings of ‘celebrity culture’; beginnings of ‘Americanization’) - Radio (possibilities for propaganda: Mussolini)

5. 2) Rising working class standards of living Development of welfare state Beginnings of mass consumerism (e.g. USA: mass car ownership by 1930s)

6. 3) Crises in capitalism Wall Street Crash, 1929 -Large number of businesses go bust -Many capitalists ruined -Mass unemployment -Hyper-inflation 4) Challenges to capitalism - Communist revolution in Russia, 1917 -Increased popularity of Fascism: Hitler wins power in Germany, 1933

7. “EASTERN MARXISM” Marxism in the Soviet Union (USSR) Russian Revolution, 1917 Communist Party attempts to foster democracy VERSUS Communist Party keeps all power for itself Death of Lenin, 1924

8. “WESTERN MARXISM” Response in Western Europe to the Soviet Union 1) Admiration & emulation by some 2) Increasing distrust of Stalin by others -More information becomes available -Not communism but totalitarianism -By late 1930s, Stalin the mirror-image of Hitler

9. Need to develop a new sort of Marxism: 1) More flexible: not just base creates superstructure (“mechanistic Marxism”) 2) Not a state religion; not dogmatic - could criticise Communist Party and USSR 3) Attuned to new social conditions 4) DOESN’T claim Communism would emerge inevitably; - the revolution depends on circumstances

10. WESTERN MARXISM’S TWO QUESTIONS: 1) Why has the Revolution not yet happened? Physical repression: armed force Ideological repression: dominant ideologies Marx: “culture” not very important; merely part of the social superstructure Western Marxism: “culture” very important; controls how the working classes think 2) What forces are emerging in society that can lead to Revolution?

11. WESTERN MARXISM and the FRANKFURT SCHOOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lkUeQMQAp4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8QqdWclgww&feature=endsc reen

12. The Frankfurt School - Members Institute for Social Research University of Frankfurt, 1923 Multi-disciplinary membership: Max Horkheimer (philosophy) Theodor Adorno (philosophy and musicology) Walter Benjamin (philosophy and literature) Herbert Marcuse (Freudian psychology)

13. “Critical Theory” Sources: 1)Marx; 2) Max Weber; 3) Sigmund Freud Following Marx: Most sorts of social science see only the surface of society Must find the hidden workings of society Frankfurt: against positivism - “scientific” sociology / Durkheim - can only see surface-level things

14. Updating of Marx 1) Must avoid the flaws of other sorts of sociological theory: BOTH Theoretical AND Practical BOTH Theory AND Data 2) Must avoid flaws of “Eastern Marxism”: - must be open to being corrected by evidence - must change as society changes

15. Frankfurt view of “Total administration” - dominance of instrumental rationality - complete bureaucratic control The main bureaucracies: 1) The State 2) Capitalist Economy (Monopoly Capitalism) 3) Leisure industries & mass media

16. Mass Media Adorno and Horkheimer The “Culture Industry” Mass Culture: standardised culture for “the masses” 1. Propagates dominant ideologies - audiences influenced - conformist thinking and behaviour 2. Pacifies the populace - superficial pleasures - a break from unfulfilling jobs 3. Outcome: capitalist system reproduced over time

17. Sigmund Freud 1)Social shaping of individual psychology - “blank slate” Frankfurt view (Fromm; Adorno): -psychology shaped by dominant ideologies e.g. capitalist ideologies -these make people passive and conformist

18. Social shaping of collective psychology -a social group e.g. the capitalist class -a whole society e.g. capitalist society All societies need to repress individuals’ natural, biological instincts -sex drives -violent tendencies -uncontrolled egotism & selfishness

19. Modern Western (capitalist) societies repress natural instincts very much PROBLEM - Too much repression: a)Individual becomes “neurotic” - Individual is psychologically sick b) The whole society becomes “neurotic” - The whole society is psychologically sick

20. Frankfurt view (Herbert Marcuse – 1960s): 1) Capitalist society overly represses natural instincts 2) Individuals in capitalist society are made neurotic e.g. craving wealth & fame 3) The whole society is neurotic e.g. happiness = consumer goods 4) Encouragement of worst human traits: a) Greed b) Seeing others as objects to be used c) Hatred of ‘foreigners’ and ‘outsiders’ 5) Solution: Critical Theory as therapy – makes society realise its own sickness