The alliance of critical theory between Frankfurt and Paris

Adorno, Foucault, and the Critique of the West argues that critical theory continues to offer valuable resources for critique and contestation during this turbulent period in our history. To assess these resources, it examines the work of two of the twentieth century's more prominent social theorists: Theodor W. Adorno and Michel Foucault. Although Adorno was situated squarely in the Marxist tradition that Foucault would occasionally challenge, Cook demonstrates that their critiques of our current predicament are complementary in important respects. Among other things, they converge in their focus on the historical conditions-economic in Adorno and political in Foucault-that gave rise to the racist and authoritarian tendencies that continue to blight the West. But this book will also show that as Adorno and Foucault plumb the economic and political forces that have shaped our identities, they offer remarkably similar answers to the perennial question: What is to be done?

"Praise for Adorno on Nature:

Adorno is one of the most sophisticated and thorough materialists of the last century, and Cook introduces with much precision (and sympathy for those not already familiar with Adorno's work) the diversity and strength of Adorno's approach. Adorno on Nature functions in part, then, as a corrective to recent neglect of Adorno's commitment to Marxist materialism." - Mind

"Praise for Adorno on Nature:

A useful and persuasive account of Adorno's concept of nature and its relationship with the thought of, above all, Marx, but also Hegel, Kant and, to a lesser extent, Freud." - Marx and Philosophy Review of Books

"Praise for Adorno on Nature:

A comprehensive and careful analysis of the crucial and often underestimated role of nature in Adorno, tracing Adorno's conception of 'natural history' from the 1930s to the 1960s and articulating its implications for environmental philosophy and activism." - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Praise for The Culture Industry Revisited:

In sum, the book is a refreshing departure from the frequent tendency to bash and dismiss Adorno without further ado, or the tendency of his followers to simply celebrate him as the greatest theorist of the contemporary moment. Cook's book should thus be of significant use to those interested in Adorno and critical theory, cultural studies and mass communication, and contemporary social theory. Adorno's work itself is transdisciplinary and Cook presents him in a fashion in which he could be of use to a broad transdisciplinary audience." - Journal of Communication

"Praise for The Culture Industry Revisited:

Adorno's speculative thinking in the service of norms such as freedom, autonomy, and spontaneity serves as a prototype of social and political practice that might overcome the reification and narcissism endemic to contemporary mass culture." - Sociological Abstracts

"Praise for Theodor Adorno: Key Concepts:

This collection accomplishes its goal to lead us 'through the intricate labyrinth of Adorno's work." It is a reliable guide and will leave readers of Adorno less perplexed." - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews