From Damaged Life

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The Critical Theory of Theodor W. Adorno

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

1 119 kr

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'Life does not live.'This certainty – that the conditions governing existence in contemporary societies generate irretrievably damaged lives – lies at the heart of Theodor W. Adorno's critical theory. Emerging from the historical experience of fascism, Auschwitz, and the consolidation of advanced capitalism, Adorno’s thought articulates critique from within a damaged reality.Under the coercion of overwhelming social powers, individual character is constituted as a “system of scars”. This notion of “damaged life” stands at the center of this book, which frames critique as emerging from a reality scarred by systemic coercion. It reconstructs Adorno’s critical theory as an analysis of the new state of unfreedom linked to total socialization, the anthropological reshaping of subjectivity under advanced capitalism, and the very possibility of critique.Jordi Maiso's analysis spans key themes: the constellation of fascism and advanced capitalism, the culture industry's role in shaping consciousness, and the persistence of authoritarian potential in everyday life. Revisiting Adorno’s conception of critique as a “science of mourning” and his insistence on determinate negation, the book shows how critical thought confronts a historical moment in which emancipatory horizons appear blocked yet remain necessary.Both historical and urgent, From Damaged Life: The Critical Theory of Theodor W. Adorno interrogates the persistence of fear, heteronomy, and avoidable suffering. It asks whether, under conditions marked by authoritarian regression and damaged subjectivity, critical theory can still resist resignation and keep the possibility of transformation alive.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-09-17
Mått156 x 234 x undefined mm
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieCritical Theory and the Critique of Society
Antal sidor352
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN9781350562776

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Jordi Maiso is Associate Professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. His area of specialization is contemporary social philosophy and aesthetics. He has published extensively on Frankfurt School Critical Theory, its history and its current interest. He is also Chief Editor of Constelaciones. Revista de Teoría Crítica, member of the editorial board of the Journal of Adorno Studies and president of the Spanish Society of Critical Theory Studies.

IntroductionPart One: The Core of Experience and the Coordinates of CritiqueCritical Theory as a “Science of Mourning”I. RESIGNATION? HISTORY, EMANCIPATION AND BARBARISM“After Auschwitz”“Where is the proletariat?”“From the standpoint of redemption”II. DOES IT NOT HURT TO BE DEVOURED? THE POSITION OF THE CRITICAL INTELLECTUALThe fragile nonconformity of the spiritArt as a battlefieldCritical theory and praxisIII. A FAREWELL TO MARX? UNRAVELING CONTEMPORARY PREHISTORYThe “unity of an epoch”: Capitalism and fascismProtohistory of contemporary prehistoryAbsolutized self-preservationPart Two: ADORNO AND THE CRITICAL THEORY OF CAPITALISMIn the Labyrinth of the Social ConstitutionIV. A NEW STATE OF UNFREEDOM: THE LOGIC OF CAPITALIST SOCIALIZATIONCapitalist society as a “system”: a twist on totalityCapitalism as “natural history”A social whole with no outside: “Total socialization”V. CULTURE INDUSTRY: INTEGRATION AS MASS DECEPTIONThe social location of cultureThe culture industry as an instance of socializationThe “deception” of the culture industry and its limitsVI. TOWARDS A NEW TYPE OF HUMAN BEING: ANTHROPOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION OF ADVANCED CAPITALISMThe historical decline of the individual and the sacrifice of the livingTraits of the “new type of human being”Contradiction in the subject and the role of psychoanalysisVII. STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND UNCONSCIOUSNESS: THE NEW FIGURE OF IDEOLOGYSociality and appearance: The transformation of ideologyCritique of ideology and analysis of the self“Normal monsters”: The persistent potential of authoritarianismCoda: “THE LIMIT OF REIFICATION”: ADORNO AND LATE CAPITALISM TODAY