Culture 1

The noble term “culture” takes the place of the frowned upon expression “race”, but remains a mere cover for a brutal claim to power.

Theodor W. Adorno (1975): Schuld und Abwehr. Gesammelte Schriften Band 9/2. Frankfurt a. M.: Suhrkamp.

Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969), born in Frankfurt am Main as Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund, was a philosopher and co-founder of the Frankfurt School, known for studies on the authoritarian character.

In 1933, Adorno was banned from teaching by the Nazis because he came from a Jewish family on his father's side. He therefore emigrated to the USA. After his return in 1953, he observed how in post-Nazi Germany the term "race" had become taboo and was gradually being eliminated from everyday usage. Together with Max Horkheimer in their Dialectic of Enlightenment, he developed a critique of the Enlightenment and progressive thinking in the context of German society after Auschwitz. Etienne Balibar and Stuart Hall later built on observations made by Adorno in their research on "cultural racism" and "racism without race".

*Stuart Hall (1990): Cultural Identity and Diaspora.

1960