For anyone familiar with the history of The New School, there has been a long-standing relationship between our university and the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, going back to the days of Alvin Johnson and the founding days of the university. This week ICI hosted a Chinese delegation from Sun Yat-sen University in China, including Zhong Minghua, who is Dean of the School of Social Science Education at Sun Yat-sen University. Professor Zhong gave a talk on the role and influence of the Frankfurt School and figures like Herbert Marcuse, Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Erich Fromm and Jürgen Habermas.
The Frankfurt School was imported into China in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a study that was massively introduced, translated, and commented on in the 1990s and accompanied by deeper research after this period. This school of thought, an important current division of Western Marxism, had become an essential resource to cope with the problems of China during its era of opening reforms. Today, the resources of the Frankfurt School are significant to China in building modernity and constructing culture.
In case you missed the event, you can listen to the whole program below, as well as see the accompanying powerpoint.
[Note: Professor Zhong gave his talk in Mandarin, followed by a translation in English. Throughout this podcast there is a mix of both languages.]
[audio:http://indiachinainstitute.org/audio/Zong%20Minghua%20-%20Critical%20Theory%20in%20China%20Talk%20(10.21.2013).mp3]