Episode 20: Inside the Manesar Labor Movement

Episode 21: A Critical Theory of Christianity? (Ft. Julian Assele)

In this episode, Crane is joined by Julian Assele to discuss Max Horkheimer’s long-running critical engagement with contemporary Neo-Thomism, the history of Catholic thought, and the social content of theological controversies dating back to the early Christian church. Starting from Horkheimer’s 1930s short-form polemics on the church and fascism, the hosts turn to his extensive criticism of Neo-Thomism in “Conflicting Panaceas” from Eclipse of Reason (1947)—as well as the earlier version of the text, the unpublished “The Revival of Dogmatism” (1943)—and conclude with a critical look at the late Horkheimer’s neo-conservative instrumentalization of religion in “Theism and Atheism” (1963), posing the question: what might a “critical theory of religion” look like today? Texts: “On the Concept of God” [or: “Thoughts on Religion”] (1935): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-horkheimers-fragments [https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-horkheimers-fragments] “On Theodor Haecker’s Der Christ und die Geschichte [The Christian and History]” (1936): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-the-materialist-as-polemicist [https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-the-materialist-as-polemicist] “The Revival of Dogmatism” (1943): https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-society-and-reason-1944 [https://jamescrane.substack.com/p/collection-society-and-reason-1944] “Conflicting Panaceas,” in Eclipse of Reason (1947) “Theism and Atheism” (1963), in Critique of Instrumental Reason (1974) Follow Julian on Substack https://substack.com/@julesnotes [https://substack.com/@julesnotes] If you want to support the show donate to us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/crittheoryworkgroup] Visit our website for writing and updates [https://ctwgwebsite.github.io/] Follow our socials: Twitter [https://x.com/crit_theory_grp] Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/crittheoryworkgrp.bsky.social] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/criticaltheoryworkinggroup]

Episode 20: Inside the Manesar Labor Movement

Mac and Re are joined by Shreya from the Center for Struggling Trade Unions (CSTU) to discuss the recent workers strikes in various industries of North India. Since March, workers in the automobile and garment industry were joined by domestic service workers to mobilize against low wages, unpaid overtime and deteriorating labor conditions. We also discuss the history of the workers mobilization in North India and raise some questions of the problems of labor organizing today. History of the Manesar automobile workers struggle: https://class-notes.org/2025/06/04/maruti-story-book/ [https://class-notes.org/2025/06/04/maruti-story-book/] If you want to support the show donate to us on Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/c/crittheoryworkgroup] Visit our website for writing and updates [https://ctwgwebsite.github.io/] Follow our socials: Twitter [https://x.com/crit_theory_grp] Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/crittheoryworkgrp.bsky.social] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/criticaltheoryworkinggroup]

Episode 19: Peter Damerow and the Ontogeny of Thinking

Anatarah, Mac, and Re return once more to the realm of science studies. This time it is to discuss the indomitable Peter Damerow and the Max Planck history of science’s program of historical epistemology via their book Abstraction and Representation: Essays on the Cultural Evolution of Thinking. We discuss the usage and development of (reflective) abstractions, the similarities between Piaget and Hegel, and finally the genesis of the number concept. Along the way, we discuss Damerow's theory of writing and language as well as his concept of historiogenesis. Recommend readings: The new Damerow translation by the Marxism & Science Journal The Creation of Numbers from Clay by McLaughlin & Schlaudt Eye of the Master by Pasquinelli Material Engagement Theory by Malafouris

Episode 18: Rupture Theory (Ft. Cam West)

J. E., Cam, and Mac are joined by Cam West of Negation Magazine to discuss his essay "Rupture Theory" and the possibility of politics at a distance from the state. We discuss the status of the party-form, the dialectic of spontaneity and organization, and so on, especially as they pertain to the last 10 years in the US. Cam West's article = https://www.negationmag.com/articles/rupture-theory [https://www.negationmag.com/articles/rupture-theory]

Episode 17: Who Paid The Riddler of Western Marxism? (Part 2)

By popular demand, J. E. and Crane unite in a two-part episode (of which this is the second part) to, uh... review? critique? lampoon? Gabriel Rockhill's book Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism Inter alia, they answer pressing questions like, who controls the academic world? (Probably not annoying "idealist" grad students) Did the Frankfurt School destroy the American labor movement? (No, lol) And, what does it mean to use wissenschaftlich DHM hermeneutics to dialectically situate subjective agency with the objective totality of material conditions? (Hell if we know!)