Adorno on ideology : ideology critique and mass consumerism

Written after his return from American exile to a country that was shaped by Nazi-ideology (Klikauer 2011), Adorno's "Beitrag zur Ideologielehre" [ideology-theory] of 1954 remains largely unknown. This deficit persists despite Cook's (2001) reconstruction of some of the basic parameters of Adorno's overall thinking on ideology reconstructed from several of the latter's writings. By contrast this article focuses exclusively on Adorno's "Beitrag zur Ideologielehre" seeking to clarify three issues: closing the gap in our knowledge of Adorno by explaining his "Ideologielehre" to and English speaking audience; positioning "Ideologielehre" in the established history and body of theories on ideology; and finally illustrating the contribution of "Ideologielehre" to ideology critique [Ideologiekritik] and our understanding of the ideological mechanisms of the "Culture Industry".