The SAGE Handbook of Frankfurt School Critical Theory expounds the development of critical theory from its founding thinkers to its contemporary formulations in an interdisciplinary setting. It maps the terrain of a critical social theory, expounding its distinctive character vis-a-vis alternative theoretical perspectives, exploring its theoretical foundations and developments, conceptualising its subject matters both past and present, and signalling its possible future in a time of great uncertainty. Taking a distinctively theoretical, interdisciplinary, international and contemporary perspective on the topic, this wide-ranging collection of chapters is arranged thematically over three volumes: Volume I: Key Texts and Contributions to a Critical Theory of Society Volume II: Themes Volume III: Contexts This Handbook is essential reading for scholars and students in the field, showcasing the scholarly rigor, intellectual acuteness and negative force of critical social theory, past and present.

Mass Culture and the Internet

Mass Culture and the Internet

Mass Culture and the Internet
Nick Dyer-Witheford

Introduction: Downloading the Culture Industry

With an Internet connection you can download a free copy of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno’s ‘The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception’ (2002 [1947]: 94–136) and, also for free, globally share your thoughts about it across social media. Is the contradiction between the essay’s coruscating critique of commodified culture and its apparently costless worldwide circulation a signal that cornucopian digital networks have completely outrun the grasp of critical theory? Or do Horkheimer and Adorno truculently maintain their relevance even in the face of Google, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat? This chapter considers some moments in the short, fast history of the Internet and arguments made at ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles