Critical Theory

Critical theory emerged in Germany in the 1920s with the establishment of the Institute for Social Research at Frankfurt-am Main in 1923. The term ‘critical theory’ was originally coined and used by Max Horkheimer in 1937 to describe the theoretical programme of the school. Known as the ‘Frankfurt School’ the group became exiled to France then to the United States in the early 1930s until 1941 when it closed down. According to Löwenthal (1989: 141) the decision to emigrate from Germany was made as early as 1930 as a consequence of the rise of the Nazi’s to political power and the increasingly difficult situation faced by a group of intellectuals that was predominantly Jewish. Amongst its members were Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Frederich Pollock, Franz Neumann, Leo Löwenthal and Erih Fromm. In 1934 the group were given permission to establish their Institute at Columbia University in New York. After the war, in 1950, it was reestablished in Frankfurt where it attracted new members such as Jürgen Habermas and Alfred Schmidt