Marx, Cole and the Frankfurt School: Realising the political potential of critical social theory

Abstract

In this article, the author proposes that whilst Habermas's attempt to conceptualise a political form oriented towards the institutionalisation of emancipatory practice represents a positive step for critical theory, it is best served by developing a theoretical framework that does not presuppose or apologise for the instrumental mastery of external nature. It is argued that in order to achieve such a task, the political potential of the critique of instrumental reason elaborated by the first generation of Frankfurt School theorists ought to be realised through the labour-mediated reconciliation of humanity with both internal and external nature, for which the libertarian socialism of G. D. H. Cole provides an adequate basis. © The Author(s) 2012.