Critical theory as it's been canonized within the Western Academy, is a tradition that comes out of a group of thinkers affiliated with what's called the Frankfurt School. It purported to offer a kind of radical critique of capitalism, consumer society and issues of contemporary society and how they are controlled. However, once again proving Gramsci true, instead, the Frankfurt School has been blunted by its funding sources, used by the CIA and in the end, while prevasive in Western academia, offers no real study on “how the world works” and of course, it critiques Actually Existing Socialism (AES) more than it critiques capitalist or even fascist regimes. On top of it, it has a very reactionary bend to it. Today, Gabrielle Rockhill, philosopher and critique of critical Theory joins us to talk to us about what’s wrong with Western Academia.
Gabrielle’s Writings
Show Notes
1:38 - What is critical theory?
3:55 - Critical and revolutionary for the reinvention of the critique in the age of idealogical realignment
4:15 - Theory in the Marxist Sense vs Theory in the Liberal Sense
7:45 - Divorcing Critical Theory from Political Action
9:49 - Tiktok


11:42 - Political Science for Imperialism
13:51 - The Parcelization of Academia in the West
15:00 - Common sense assumptions without Proofs
22:13 - Frankfurt School at Inception
27:44 - The Foundations, Corporations and the Institute for Social Research
34:55 - Infiltration of Unions
41:47: Anything But Socialism
43:00 - Esha uses the opening to rail on Timothy Snyder and Anne Applebaum
54:23 - The War Propaganda and Academia
1:02:00 - Marxism in the West
Gabrielle Rockhill can be found on twitter.
Gotta start reprinting books with sources first and if you have more than say 50% nazis and/or cia in that source list you get a stamp on the front indicating that.
That's funny.
They have blacklisted professors in America.
That's why you get academics from Yale who have polite dinners with members of the SS. But, let's ask these same academics if they ever had dinner at their local homeless shelter and they will answer no.
Interviewer interrupts Rockhill too much. Let him speak and learn how to interview.