rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/form/nyc-dsa-academy-frankfurt-school-fascism?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-form-area-nyc-dsa-academy-frankfurt-school-fascism' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> NYC-DSA Citywide Political Education Committee https://actionnetwork.org/groups/wg-citywide-poli-ed https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg Deadline for Applications: September 2, 2026 The Frankfurt School on the Far Right: Critical Theory and Fascism Instructor: Jeremy Cohan Dates: Wednesdays, 7–9pm • September 9, 16, 23, 30, 2026 Location: DSA Office 14 Jefferson Street, NY, NY 10002 Course cost: $35 DSA members / $45 nonmembers Course Description Mark Twain said that history does not repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes. And surely our time rhymes with the early 20th century’s political terrain: the collapse of the free-market capitalist center, the rise of democratic socialist politics and a resurgent left, and the rise and accession to power of the far right—the rise of fascism. With the rise of fascism, a new force entered onto the stage of history: mass movements of the far right, dedicated to dictatorship, exploitation, violence, and mass murder. Understanding and combatting a mass movement for authoritarianism was then, and is now, core to the tasks of a democratic left. The Frankfurt School—Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Leo Lowenthal, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, Franz Neumann, Otto Kircheimer, and others—were a group of heterodox, mostly Jewish, Marxist scholars, centered around the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt, Germany. They both saw firsthand the effects of fascism as they fled to the United States to escape persecution, and they were uniquely positioned intellectually to analyze how potentials for freedom and equality created by the modern world turned to hatred and destruction. The question of how fascism works and what the movement provides its mass base became core to the school’s intellectual agenda, and they brought their unique set of interdisciplinary tools from Marxist theory, psychoanalysis, academic sociology, media analysis, aesthetics, and more to the task of solving the puzzle of what makes a fascist tick. This course will review some of the core writings of the school on the far right, mostly but not exclusively focusing on the writings of Theodor Adorno. It will begin with some of the foundational writings and history of the school, then turn to excerpts from Prophets of Deceit, The Authoritarian Personality, Escape From Freedom, “Freudian Theory and the Pattern of Fascist Propaganda,” and “Aspects of the New Right-Wing Extremism.” We will explore the analysis in these works of how fascist agitation works, as well as the social psychology of those tempted to follow far right agitators. In what ways does modern capitalism create the basis for the rise of the far right? What does a fascist movement promise its followers? What desires does fascism appeal to? What are fascists looking to find and willing to do? What are some of the core characteristics of the far right that the left needs to understand to fight against it? Instructor Biography Jeremy Cohan is a long-timer democratic socialist activist and former co-chair of the NYC DSA Chapter. He is a professor of sociology and critical theory and has published in numerous journals.   About the NYC DSA Academy for Socialist Education Education, broadly defined, is and always has been a vital function of revolutionary socialist movements. The NYC DSA Academy aims to enhance the ongoing political education efforts of the New York chapter of DSA. Designed to connect the history and theory of socialist struggles with the work of today’s activists, the Academy aims to offer a rigorous but accessible curriculum for working adults to develop their understanding and strategy. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/nyc-dsa-academy-frankfurt-school-fascism