Against the widespread view that Adorno remains stuck in an antiquated way of approaching ideolog... more Against the widespread view that Adorno remains stuck in an antiquated way of approaching ideology as expression of social totality, the present article tries to recuperate Adorno's dialectical legacy in the context of contemporary neoliberalism. One central point made by Adorno-though usually missed by interpreters-is that ideology operates according to the Hegelian " negation of negation ". We believe that this basic insight can be applied not only to liberal capitalism (19 th century) and monopoly capitalism (20 th century), but also to neoliberalism, thus shedding a new light even on contemporary phenomena like fake news or the proliferation of dystopian political scenarios as in the case of Trump or Brexit campaigns. From one of the main sources of inspiration for 1968 German student protests, Adorno, the critical philosopher, quickly turned into a " reactionary " , an " elitist " who obstinately resisted the enthusiasm for a radical political revolution. 1 Ironically enough, there was a similar reaction * Ciprian Bogdan is a PhD Lecturer with the Department of International Relations and German Studies, Faculty of European Studies at Babes-Bolyai University. Contact: [email protected] 1 Though he was sensitive to certain issues raised by the students, Adorno refused to join them because of the visceral attitude demanding immediate action against capitalism without realizing that such an approach was perfectly compatible with the abstract, mediated character of the system they so harshly criticized. As we know, there are also two highly embarrassing moments in this story: the first one in which Adorno called the police
One of the central charges that Žižek levels down against Adorno is that his critique of ideology... more One of the central charges that Žižek levels down against Adorno is that his critique of ideology comes dangerously close to a post-ideological position in which all ideological contents, political actions or rituals are reduced to a cynical consciousness which automatically obeys certain social imperatives though being aware of their falsity. Against this, Žižek comes up with an alternative understanding of cynicism as operating not at the level of consciousness, but everyday practices. What the present article tries to show is that Žižek's critique is misplaced, for Adorno has a much more subtle approach in which the problem of ideology lies neither simply in theory, nor in practice, but somewhere in-between, in the compulsion of gestures. Moreover, from an Adornian perspective, Žižek's commitment to a Hegelian self-referential approach (based on double negation/compulsion of subjective gestures) obliterates the double-edge character of determinate negation, that of addressing both the present social-historical context and the possibility of an alternative social reality. 2
Against the widespread view that Adorno remains stuck in an antiquated way of approaching ideolog... more Against the widespread view that Adorno remains stuck in an antiquated way of approaching ideology as expression of social totality, the present article tries to recuperate Adorno's dialectical legacy in the context of contemporary neoliberalism. One central point made by Adorno-though usually missed by interpreters-is that ideology operates according to the Hegelian " negation of negation ". We believe that this basic insight can be applied not only to liberal capitalism (19 th century) and monopoly capitalism (20 th century), but also to neoliberalism, thus shedding a new light even on contemporary phenomena like fake news or the proliferation of dystopian political scenarios as in the case of Trump or Brexit campaigns. From one of the main sources of inspiration for 1968 German student protests, Adorno, the critical philosopher, quickly turned into a " reactionary " , an " elitist " who obstinately resisted the enthusiasm for a radical political revolution. 1 Ironically enough, there was a similar reaction * Ciprian Bogdan is a PhD Lecturer with the Department of International Relations and German Studies, Faculty of European Studies at Babes-Bolyai University. Contact: [email protected] 1 Though he was sensitive to certain issues raised by the students, Adorno refused to join them because of the visceral attitude demanding immediate action against capitalism without realizing that such an approach was perfectly compatible with the abstract, mediated character of the system they so harshly criticized. As we know, there are also two highly embarrassing moments in this story: the first one in which Adorno called the police
One of the central charges that Žižek levels down against Adorno is that his critique of ideology... more One of the central charges that Žižek levels down against Adorno is that his critique of ideology comes dangerously close to a post-ideological position in which all ideological contents, political actions or rituals are reduced to a cynical consciousness which automatically obeys certain social imperatives though being aware of their falsity. Against this, Žižek comes up with an alternative understanding of cynicism as operating not at the level of consciousness, but everyday practices. What the present article tries to show is that Žižek's critique is misplaced, for Adorno has a much more subtle approach in which the problem of ideology lies neither simply in theory, nor in practice, but somewhere in-between, in the compulsion of gestures. Moreover, from an Adornian perspective, Žižek's commitment to a Hegelian self-referential approach (based on double negation/compulsion of subjective gestures) obliterates the double-edge character of determinate negation, that of addressing both the present social-historical context and the possibility of an alternative social reality. 2
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