Critical theory and empirical research: democracy and the potentials of resistance in Th. W. Adorno

• Grant number: 17/04526-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: August 01, 2017
• End date: July 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Severino Nobre
• Grantee: Adriano Márcio Januário
• Supervisor: Dirk Braunstein
• Host Institution: Centro Brasileiro de Análise e Planejamento (CEBRAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 16/08248-0 - Democracy and the potentials of resistance in the industrial late capitalism: majority, culture and experience in Th. W. Adorno, BP.PD

Abstract

This postdoctoral research internship that will take place at Institute for Social Research of Frankfurt am Main, German, aims to investigate the following hypothesis: the empirical research had a central role in the diagnosis of time in the Th. W. Adorno's late thought. Investigating the empirical research developed during the 1950's and 1960's, can point out its central role in the production of a diagnosis of time made by Adorno in this period. That means this research should take into account the various moments in which Adorno not only collaborated with the publications of the Institute, but also participated directly in several empirical researches. This close engagement in these empirical researches can disclose that they could contribute directly to various assessments of the role of empirical research in Critical Theory in texts such as "The present position of empirical sociology in Germany "(1952),"Sociology and empirical research"(1957), "The present state of German sociology"(1959) and "Theory of society and empirical research"(1969). The history of the Institute and its production can help to understand what were the studies that contributed to this diagnosis of the present time in Adorno's work. This research project has as one of its main goals, therefore, to correlate the texts of Adorno produced mainly between the decades of 1950 and 1960 with the empirical researches of Institute for Social Research, taking into account the period of exile in the USA. The research internship will deal with unpublished material that can be found at achieves of the Institute and in German. The intention of this project is also to contribute to current discussion about the role of empirical research in the Critical Theory tradition. (AU)