The prescience and paradox of Erich Fromm: A note on the performative contradictions of critical theory

Thesis Eleven ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 072551362110328
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Erich Fromm ◽  
Social Theorist ◽  
Marxist Approach ◽  
The Face ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
The 1950S

As social theorists seek to understand the contemporary challenges of radical populism, we would do well to reconsider the febrile insights of the psychoanalytic social theorist Erich Fromm. It was Fromm who, at the beginning of the 1930s, conceptualized the emotional and sociological roots of a new ‘authoritarian character’ who was meek in the face of great power above and ruthless to the powerless below. It was Fromm, in the 1950s, who argued that societies, not only individuals, could be sick. This essay traces the intertwining of psychoanalytic and sociological methods that allowed Fromm to create such new ideas. At the same time, it highlights how Fromm’s sociology was hampered by an economistic Marxist approach to the institutions and culture of democratic capitalist societies. Such theoretical restriction prevented Fromm from conceptualizing how institutions like democracy, science, and psychotherapy can provide resources for widespread emotional recuperation and civil repair.

scholarly journals On the formation of the phenomenon of the power of the moscow dynasty through the prism of historical anthropology (late 14th – first half of the 15th centuries)

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-60
Author(s):  
Maksim N. Shevchenko
Keyword(s):  
Research Program ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Great Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Historical Anthropology ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

The article is devoted to the study of the problem of the formation of the ideology of the Moscow principality. The purpose of this study is to identify the ideological origins and features of the formation of the ideology of the rule of the Moscow sovereigns at the end of the XIV the first half of the XV centuries. To achieve this goal, the historian, firstly, draws on a wide range of sources, which will demonstrate the scale of changes in the theoretical foundations and ways of representing the power of the Moscow princes; secondly, the author took the principles of studying the phenomenon of power formulated by representatives of the Russian direction of historical anthropology as the basis for the research program of this article. Using the advantages of the existing approach, the researcher determined which ideas, images, forms and mechanisms were used to consolidate in the minds of contemporaries new ideas about the constantly expanding powers of power of the Moscow princes. The article concludes that the created great-power image of the Moscow rulers laid the ideological foundation for the growth of the political power of the Moscow principality.

1. The Frankfurt School

2017 ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
Stephen Eric Bronner
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Walter Benjamin ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
Herbert Marcuse ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
Erich Fromm ◽  
Max Horkheimer ◽  
History Of ◽  
Inner Circle

‘The Frankfurt School’ provides a brief history of the formation of the Frankfurt School, and biographies of prominent members. The Frankfurt School grew out of the Institute for Social Research, the first Marxist think tank. However, in 1930, under the directorship of Max Horkheimer, the organization moved to America to escape the Nazis, and began to concentrate on critical theory. Aside from Horkheimer, notable members of the Frankfurt School's inner circle included Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, and Jürgen Habermas. Each member of the inner circle was different, but they all shared the same concerns, and attempted to solve them through intellectual daring and experimentation.

Putinomics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Miller
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Oil Prices ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
Economic Strategy ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Vladimir Putin

When Vladimir Putin first took power in 1999, he was a little-known figure ruling a country that was reeling from a decade and a half of crisis. In the years since, he has reestablished Russia as a great power. How did he do it? What principles have guided Putin's economic policies? What patterns can be discerned? In this new analysis of Putin's Russia, Chris Miller examines its economic policy and the tools Russia's elite have used to achieve its goals. Miller argues that despite Russia's corruption, cronyism, and overdependence on oil as an economic driver, Putin's economic strategy has been surprisingly successful. Explaining the economic policies that underwrote Putin's two-decades-long rule, Miller shows how, at every juncture, Putinomics has served Putin's needs by guaranteeing economic stability and supporting his accumulation of power. Even in the face of Western financial sanctions and low oil prices, Putin has never been more relevant on the world stage.

The Structure of Modern Ideology

1939 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-399
Author(s):  
Francis G. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Thomas Carlyle ◽  
Social Theorist ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
The French Revolution

“THEORIES of Government!” exclaims Thomas Carlyle in the early pages of The French Revolution. “Such has been, and will be; in ages of decadence. Acknowledge them in their degree; as processes of Nature, who does nothing in vain; as steps in her great process.” The social theorist of today takes more seriously than Carlyle the existence of ideology, for ideology is an expression of spiritual unrest in the face of history-making issues. In turn, ideology itself becomes a problem, and we are led to examine its nature. Especially is this true today, which is a time of passionate affirmation of ambiguous positions rather than the observation of political behavior.

Varieties of Critique in Sociological Theory and Their Methodological Implications for Social Research

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard Delanty
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
Critical Sociology ◽  
Critical Practice ◽  
Marxist Approach ◽  
Micro Analysis

The notion of critique, as in the idea of a critical theory of society, is in urgent need of clarification both theoretically and methodologically. At least five major uses of the term can be found within sociological theory, the positions associated with the critical theory of the Frankfurt School from Adorno to Habermas and Honneth, Bourdieu's critical sociology, critical realism, Foucault's genealogical critique, and various notions of critical practice, most notably the work of Boltanski and Thévenot. It is possible to detect a movement from the Hegelian-Marxist approach towards interpretative conceptions of critique, leading to a pluralisation of critique and a shift from macro to micro analysis. A theoretical clarification of the notion of critique in these approaches offers a basis for a new and more rigorous methodological application of critique in social research.

scholarly journals Donald Trump: A Critical Theory-Perspective on Authoritarian Capitalism

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Frankfurt School ◽  
State Theory ◽  
The State ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Erich Fromm ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
The Media ◽  
State Relations

This paper analyses economic power, state power and ideological power in the age of Donald Trump with the help of critical theory. It applies the critical theory approaches of thinkers such as Franz Neumann, Theodor W. Adorno and Erich Fromm. It analyses changes of US capitalism that have together with political anxiety and demagoguery brought about the rise of Donald Trump. This article draws attention to the importance of state theory for understanding Trump and the changes of politics that his rule may bring about. It is in this context important to see the complexity of the state, including the dynamic relationship between the state and the economy, the state and citizens, intra-state relations, inter-state relations, semiotic representations of and by the state, and ideology. Trumpism and its potential impacts are theorised along these dimensions. The ideology of Trump (Trumpology) has played an important role not just in his business and brand strategies, but also in his political rise. The (pseudo-)critical mainstream media have helped making Trump and Trumpology by providing platforms for populist spectacles that sell as news and attract audiences. By Trump making news in the media, the media make Trump. An empirical analysis of Trump’s rhetoric and the elimination discourses in his NBC show The Apprentice underpins the analysis of Trumpology. The combination of Trump’s actual power and Trump as spectacle, showman and brand makes his government’s concrete policies fairly unpredictable. An important question that arises is what social scientists’ role should be in the conjuncture that the world is experiencing.See also the related blog post "How The Frankfurt School Helps Us To Understand Donald Trump’s Twitter Populism"http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/christian-fuchs1/how-the-frankfurt-school-_b_14156190.html?utm_hp_ref=uk-donald-trumpThe German translation of this shorter piece was published in Der Falter 5/2017: 21-23.

scholarly journals PLURALISMO JURÍDICO COMO ALTERNATIVA EPISTEMOLÓGICA PARA A CULTURA DE DIREITOS HUMANOS DESDE O CONTEXTO LATINO-AMERICANO

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 653
Author(s):  
André Luiz Pereira Spinieli
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
General Terms ◽  
Current State ◽  
Constitutional Culture ◽  
The Face ◽  
America Latina

O debate sobre o pluralismo jurídico no contexto político e social latino-americano não é recente, de modo que suas percepções foram renovadas a partir do movimento neoconstitucionalista operado no continente, responsável por desencadear alternativas epistêmicas para se pensar a efetividade dos direitos humanos e dos direitos de cidadania, tudo a partir da lógica de emancipação social e descolonialidade, como possibilidade de rompimento com o constitucionalismo tradicional, de cunho conservador, hegemônico e colonialista. Em termos gerais, como uma das respostas à concepção juspositivista, o pluralismo jurídico surge como modelo de pensamento para a práxis dos direitos humanos, em face de uma sociedade na qual impera a lógica das exclusões concretas em contrariedade às inclusões abstratas. Dessa forma, tomando por base a abordagem bibliográfica, este trabalho propõe oferecer reflexões a respeito do atual estado da cultura de direitos humanos instalada na América Latina, com enfoque nas contribuições epistemológicas advindas da teoria críticados direitos humanos e do pluralismo jurídico wolkmeriano.Palavras-chave: Pluralismo jurídico. Direitos humanos. Cultura constitucional. América Latina. Teoria crítica dos direitos humanos.LEGAL PLURALISM AS AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVE FOR THE CULTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS SINCE THE LATIN AMERICAN CONTEXTAbstractThe debate on legal pluralism in the Latin American political and social context is not recent, so that their perceptions were renewed from the neo-constitutionalist movement operated on the continent, responsible for triggering epistemic alternatives to think about the effectiveness of human rights and human rights of citizenship, all based on the logic of social emancipation and decoloniality, as a possibility of breaking with traditional constitutionalism, of a conservative, hegemonic and colonialist nature. In general terms, as one of the answers to the juspositivist conception, legal pluralism emerges as a model of thoughtfor the practice of human rights, in the face of a society in which the logic of concrete exclusions prevails in opposition to abstract inclusions. Thus, based on the bibliographic approach, this work proposes to offer reflections on the current state of human rights culture in Latin America, focusing on the epistemological contributions arising from the critical theory of human rights and legal Wolkmer’s pluralism.Keywords: Legal Pluralism. Human rights. Constitutional culture. Latin America. Critical theory of human rights.

scholarly journals TRIZ Theory and the Method of Cancer Document Selection for Chemical Complexes and Innovation Schemes of Meta-Analysis with Lymphomas as an Example

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Yan Huiquan ◽  
Lyu Penghui ◽  
Wang Ling ◽  
Yu Zhiming
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Cancer Therapy ◽  
Malignant Tumors ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Cancer Treatments ◽  
Mining System ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Meta Analyses

In the face of the growing incidence of malignant tumors (about 3.929 million, data issued in January 2019) and the death rate (about 2.338 million, data issued in January 2019) and the limitation of the application of informatics in cancer treatment, this paper tried to use TRIZ theory to deduce new ideas about cancer treatments, perform literature analysis on schemes, and make retrieval strategy for meta-analyses on cancer therapy. By using TRIZ theory and information to analyze the fields of cancers, the research schemes for selecting documents on cancer therapy were presented. After retrieving the documents, we exported all those articles in text format. We further analyzed the research status with the software CiteSpace and Bibliographic Information Mining System (BICOMS) by using different keywords, regions, countries, schools, authors, geography, institutes, etc. We also performed the cluster analysis by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and performed two-way cluster analysis by using Gluto software. The hot areas of research and their tendency or distribution were analyzed. The search strategy was set and the retrieving results were tried.

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