Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School

Wolfgang G. Weber, Rainer Funk, Thomas Höge and Severin Hornung

Chapter 2 in Handbook of Critical Work and Organizational Psychology, 2026, pp 22-42 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter expounds on the relevance of the first generation of Frankfurt School Critical Theorists for the critique of basic assumptions, theoretical concepts, research perspectives, and practical interventions in work and organizational (W-O) psychology. Its scope does not permit a comprehensive review of the pluralistic, highly complex, and comprehensive work of the Frankfurt School in its entirety. Instead, the focus is on exemplary contributions by Theodor W. Adorno and Erich Fromm, and to a lesser extent Herbert Marcuse and Max Horkheimer. Differences notwithstanding, their theorizing combines a social critique of the political-economic structure of the capitalist economy, based on Marx's scholarship and earlier humanists, with attempts to expose the grounding of this structure in the “collective psyche” and everyday practices to determine its psycho-social consequences. These emphases relate more strongly to fundamental problems of W-O psychology than subsequent representatives, focusing on communicative action (Jürgen Habermas), recognition (Axel Honneth), or resonance (Helmuth Rosa), which are reserved for later elaborations.

Keywords: Freudo-Marxism; Instrumental Rationality; Reification; Commodity Fetishism; Social Character; Emancipation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035331055
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