Introduction

Could it be that the Frankfurt School's North American reception has been the product of a colossal misunderstanding? Unaccountably, Dialectic of Enlightenment-written between 1941-1944, published in 1947-has become Critical Theory's signature text. Yet, if one closely surveys the Frankfurt School's oeuvre - an output spanning four decades - one realizes the degree to which the book's themes are at odds with the School's dominant theoretical tendencies.