In the minds of many critical theorists, Theodor W. Adorno epitomizes the failure of critical theory to provide any concrete guidance for political practice. His name is almost synonymous with the retreat of the progressive intellectual from the creeping totalitarianism of contemporary mass democracy. This book endeavors to disrupt this misconception by offering a close reading of Adorno’s philosophical confrontation with the Holocaust and the modern conceptions of history, morality and subjectivity that are complicit in genocide. By rethinking the relationship between reason and remembrance, morality and materiality, mimesis and political violence, Adorno’s work offers not only incisive criticism of modern political ideas and institutions, it also shows us intimations of a different political practice.

"In a way that is both broad-ranging in its treatment of themes from Adorno’s work and narrowly focused on exploring how they are influenced by the horrors of the Holocaust, Gary Mullen’s Adorno on Politics After Auschwitz reminds us that we can valuably reframe our understanding of an author by taking a familiar argument to new depths. . . . [T]hose who read this book will encounter an author who is very informed, perceptive, and knowledgeable about Adorno’s own writings. Mullen’s in-depth analysis on Adorno’s response to Auschwitz will help clarify and sharpen the perspective even of those scholars who are familiar in general terms with the significance of the Holocaust on his thought." - Canadian Society for Continental Philosophy