THE RADICALISM OF CRITICAL THEORY, ITS REFLECTIONS ON THE KRISIS GROUP AND ON PAULO ARANTES' FORMULATIONS

Abstract

This article discusses fundamental aspects of the radical criticism of the commodity production system made by the first generation of the Frankfurt school, notably by Adorno, Horkheimer and Benjamin. The purpose of the article is to investigate the relationship between the negative criticism proposed by the first generation, which did not aim at a partial change, through the State or another institutional agent, in the sense of reforming modern society. And its reflections in the theories of the Krisis group and in the formulations of Paulo Arantes. To this aim, we will analyze fundamental aspects of this criticism, comparing it with historical aspects that are decisive for its relative disappearance and resurgence. One of our conclusions is that the radical critique would make the first generation of Frankfurt the target of criticism and political isolation by the forces that tried both the path of social reforms and the attempts of State socialism throughout the 20th century. However, with the post-1970s crisis, the proposed critical theory increasingly returned to the center of analysis on the essentially destructive and totalizing character of the system, with repercussions on theoretical formulations in contemporary Brazil.