@article{198756,
  keywords = {Adorno, critical theory, autonomy, natural history, critical ecology},
  author = {Johannes Wankhammer},
  title = {The Nature of Critique: Revisiting Adorno{\textquoteright}s {\textquoteleft}Natural History{\textquoteright} amid the Postcritique Debates},
  abstract = {<p>This article revisits Adorno{\textquoteright}s concept of {\textquotedblleft}natural history{\textquotedblright} to propose an alternative to the exhausted paradigm of denaturalizing critique. As Jonathan Crary{\textquoteright}s work on the ruination of sleep illustrates, the reflex to denounce natural limits as ideological constructs falls short when it comes to confronting social pathologies wrought by late capitalism{\textquoteright}s demand for infinite flexibility. Since its Enlightenment origins, however, critical thought has tended to attack natural limits as illegitimate barriers to human self-determination, even before this strategy became, with Nietzsche, the sole rationale behind denaturalizing critique. By contrast, Adorno{\textquoteright}s concept of natural history offers a profound (if long overlooked) self-critique of critique{\textquoteright}s one-sided reliance on denaturalization: it suggests how it is possible to harnesses natural limits as levers for emancipatory transformation rather than calling blindly for the transformation of given limits. Pace Adorno, such natural-historical critique may have the potential to clarify emerging forms of political praxis, especially those fighting for environmental justice.</p>
},
  year = {2024},
  journal = {New German Critique},
  volume = {51},
  month = {10/2024},
}