In 1947 Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno publish Dialectic of Enlightenment in Amsterdam, written in Californian exile: enlightenment, reverting to mythology, produces the administered world, the culture industry, and the domination of nature that returns as domination of man. The book is Western Marxism's darkest classic and critical theory's founding text.
Tagged: Marxism
The Event
- Date
- 1947 (exact)
- Era
- Revolution and Western Marxism; Standard periodization of Marxist history
- Location
- Amsterdam; today Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Traditions
- Marxism
- Streams
- Marxism
- Key figures
- Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno
- Key texts
- Dialectic of Enlightenment
Primary Sources
- Horkheimer, Max, and Theodor W. Adorno. Dialektik der Aufklärung. Amsterdam: Querido, 1947.
Secondary Sources
- Anderson, Perry. Considerations on Western Marxism. London: New Left Books, 1976.
- Kolakowski, Leszek. Main Currents of Marxism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978.
- McLellan, David. Karl Marx: A Biography. London: Palgrave Macmillan, fourth edition, 2006.
Provenance: HIST-1463; confidence 0.95; accessed 2026-10-30.
Related on This Site
History Event
Bernstein's Evolutionary Socialism opens the revisionist controversy
1899
History Event
Engels's Anti-Dühring
1878
History Event
Lenin's What Is to Be Done?
1902
History Event
Marx's Capital, volume one
1867
History Event
Marx's Preface of 1859 states the materialist conception
1859
History Event
Marx's Theses on Feuerbach
1845
History Event
The Paris Commune
1871
World View
Marxism
Marxism explains history as the struggle of classes over material production, and aims at a classless society in which exploitation and alienation are ended.