Comparing Theodor Adorno And Jurgen Habermas - 1593 Words

Theodor Adorno and Jurgen Habermas were both members of the German Frankfurt School (Frankfurter Schule). Explain why these figures figure so largely in media studies, what these theorists had in common and what separated them, especially in terms of ideas on political economy? With the controversial increase in the concentration of media ownership in the UK over the past thirty years there is no wonder that Neo-Marxist critical theory has become more prominent in the examination and study of media. Theodor Adorno and Jurgen Habermas, members of the German Frankfurt School, both apply Marxist Hegelian basis in their critiques of media and its interaction with the public. This essay explores why Adorno and Habermas figure so largely in†¦show more content†¦Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1965). A decline in popularity of this movement suggests that what Adorno is posing is in fact of great importance specifically when analysing media and entertainment trends. Habermas however theorises the idea that there is an existence of a public sphere, which is essentially a ‘made up of private people gathered together as a public and articulating the needs of society with the state’ (Habermas, J., Lawrence, F. and Burger, T. The structural transformation of the public sphere. Cambridge, MASS: The MIT Press 1989). This public sphere, through act of assembly ‘generates opinions and attitudes which serve to affirm the affairs of state’ (Media-studies.ca, 2017) and is required to ‘legitimate authority in any functioning democracy’ (Habermas, J., Lawrence, F. and Burger, T. The structural transformation of the public sphere. Cambridge, MASS: The MIT Press 1989). Habermas also commented upon how there has been a creation of a bourgeois public sphere which is separate from the public as citizens became more concerned with consumerism and less with political matters, therefore distancing themselves from this new public sphere. In turn the media developed from a means of citizens gaining information on politics and society into a medium of advertising and a method of political forces which resulted in a less public inclusive public sphere. The idea of the public sphere is important when examining media practices as through theShow MoreRelated Transcending Herbert Marcuse on Alienation, Art and the Humanities4411 Words   |  18 Pagesto theorize our society critically if we are to have a vehicle for correctly informed transformative practice. The problem is that much of what is called critical theory today is rooted in ideas developed by Herbert Marcuse, Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, and Georg Lukacs. What I want to argue here is that their work has tended to formulate a particular approach to aesthetic educationand a unique version of a philosophical humanismwhich is then presented as critical theoryagainst the debilitatingRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesorganiz ational democracy: a challenge to managerialism? Destabilized capitalism Employee alienation as the key problem Conclusions 387 392 395 399 401 404 405 408 412 413 414 416 421 Chapter 10 Perspectives and challenges Introduction Comparing the different perspectives A modernist perspective A neomodernist perspective A new-wave perspective A postmodern perspective A reflective perspective A critical theory and psychoanalytic perspective A managerialist perspective The paradigm debate