Tom Bottomore

The Frankfurt School of German social theory has exerted a
considerable influence over the sociology of the last two
generations. Originally a centre for the study of Marxist theory
brought into being in the first years of Weimar Republic Germany,
the work of its principal figures has nonetheless always had a
somewhat ambiguous relationship with mainstream Western
Marxism, right through from the early writings of Max Horkheimer
in the 1930s to the very recent work of Jürgen Habermas. However,
the development of a distinct ‘critical theory’ of society by
Horkheimer and Adorno and its reworking by later Frankfurt
theorists constituted a (sometimes tenuous) thread of ideas and
concepts which gave the Frankfurt School an important role in the
expansion of modern sociology. Despite the somewhat paradoxical
rejection of Marxist concepts by many Frankfurt School writers, it
was especially instrumental in the renaissance of Marxist sociology
which took hold in the late 1960s.