Writers like Adorno and Horkheimer were also highly influenced by their experiences of exile, for instance, in the United States where they observed similarly totalitarian tendencies of social repression, conformity, and control in consumer capitalist society.
These historical factors help us understand the scope and themes of their work. In light of their experiences, they sought to develop a more comprehensive framework through which to understand contemporary society, as they felt that no existing school of thought could do so on its own. To do this, they drew on an interesting array of influences including the German idealist philosophers, Marxian historical materialism, Freudian psychoanalysis, and more. Taken together, these formed the foundations for the discipline of critical theory.
Marxian historical materialism
One of the central founding influences of the Frankfurt School is Marxism, a social and political philosophy named after Karl Marx. In particular, the Frankfurt School engages with Marxian historical materialism — the idea that the underlying force driving societies are their relations of production and the struggles between social classes that emerge from them. They used this historical materialist approach to understand the unprecedented issues that shaped their social context. They believed, therefore, that capitalism and class were central factors in dictating how power was distributed and exerted within society.
(To read more about Marxian historical materialism, check out our study guide “What is Dialectical Materialism?”)
Yet, rather than being orthodox Marxists who strictly adhered to Marx’s writings as if it were dogma, the Frankfurt School also expanded upon these ideas to better fit with the form of advanced capitalism under which they were writing. For starters, whereas Marx believed the struggles between classes would result in social revolution, the Frankfurt School was deeply affected by the failed communist revolution in Germany. Thus, as Gordon et al. argue,
