[FRA:] Dubiel, Helmut. Theory and Politics (1)

[Ralph Dumain]

Got this book yesterday--a fascinating approach to the program of the 
Institute for Social Research:

Dubiel, Helmut. Theory and Politics: Studies in the Development of Critical 
Theory, translated by Benjamin Gregg, with an introduction by Martin Jay. 
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1985.

Contents

introduction by Martin Jay      ix

I. The Integration of the Proletariat and the Loneliness of the 
Intelligentsia: Political Experience and the Process of Theory Construction 
in the Frankfurt Circle, 1930-1945

Methodological Procedure        3

The First Phase: Materialism, 1930-1937 11
       Historical and Political Experience       11
       Theory of the Theory-Praxis Relation      23
       Theoretical Position      31

The Second Phase: Critical Theory, 1937-1940    39
       Historical and Political Experience       39
       Theory of the Theory-Praxis Relation      49
       Theoretical Position      57

The Third Phase: The Critique of Instrumental Reason, 1940-1945    69
       Historical and Political Experience           69
       Theory of the Theory-Praxis Relation      81
       Theoretical Position      88

Summary 99
       Historical and Political Experience       99
       Theory of the Theory-Praxis Relation      100
       Theoretical Position      103

Structural Change in Political and Historical Experience        109

Notes to Part 1 113


II. Dialectical Presentation and Interdisciplinary Research: Theory 
Construction and Research Organization in the Institute for Social Research 
after 1930

Introduction: On the Methodology of Interdisciplinary   119
Research

The Program of the Institute for Social Research        129

The Program in the Context of the History of Science    133
      The Philosophical Critique of Science and the Neopositivist
           Critique of Philosophy in the Weimar Republic           133
      The Relation of Theory to Empirical Research in Contemporary 
Sociology     136

Theoretical and Historical Background   141

The Theory of Dialectical Presentation and Research Organization        151

The Cognitive Structure of the Organization of Research 155
       The Zeitschrift fur Sozialforschung       156

Studies on Authority and the Family     164
       Analysis of the Circle's Cognitive Structure      168

The Social Structure of the Organization of Research    173
       The Circle's Structure of Communication   173
       Role Differentiation within the Circle    177
       Conditions Determining the Institutional Framework        180

Summary 183

Notes to Part II        189

Bibliography    191

Index   205

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The methodological prelude includes a discussion of the conditions of a 
group's--in this case the Frankfurt School's--endeavors in the way of 
theoretical self-consciousness (reflection).  Dubiel explains his approach 
to the subject matter, e.g.:

---begin quote---
Our systematic representation of the early Frankfurt Circle is based on the 
following structure of points in inquiry:

Historical and political experience
         The labor movement
         The Soviet Union
         Fascism

Theory of the theory-praxis relation
         Subject and addressee
         Theory and praxis

Theoretical Position
           Self-understanding within the tradition of historical and 
political theory
           Relation to Marxism
           Relation of philosophy to science
           Utopia
---end quote---

Dubiel's review of the Frankfurt School's self-understanding involves its 
assessment of contemporary conditions.    For example, in the first phase 
we see Horkheimer's critical assessment of the German Communist Party (KPD) 
in relation to its Stalinization and hence developments in the USSR, and an 
even more critical commentary on the Social Democrats (SPD).