Over twenty years since its publication, Alex Demirovic’s Der nonkonformistische Intellektuelle remains one of the most important and challenging interpretations of what is known as Frankfurt School Critical Theory.

Attending closely to Adorno’s and Horkheimer’s lecture and seminar protocols, the book foregrounded questions of theoretical praxis, pedagogy and institutional practice in order to produce a materialist re-reading of the history and philosophy of the Institute for Social Research.

Der nonkonformistische Intellektuelle offered the opportunity to reconsider how debates on Marx and Marxism were central to the Institute’s post-War project, arguing that the negation of conformist intellectual tendencies was one of its most foundational and defining characteristics. Led by Demirovic (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt and Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung), Svenja Bromberg (Goldsmiths) and Louis Hartnoll (CRMEP), this workshop will introduce the central theses of the book to an Anglophone audience.