Page "Theodor W. Adorno" Paragraph 47

Because Adorno believed that sociology needs to be self-reflective and self-critical, he believed that the language the sociologist uses, like the language of the ordinary person, is a political construct in large measure that uses, often unreflectingly, concepts installed by dominant classes and social structures ( such as our notion of " deviance " which includes both genuinely deviant individual and " hustlers " operating below social norms because they lack the capital to operate above: for an analysis of this phenomenon, cf.

Pierre Bourdieu's book The Weight of the World ).

He felt that those at the top of the Institute needed to be the source primarily of theories for evaluation and empirical testing, as well as people who would process the " facts " discovered ... including revising theories that were found to be false.

For example, in essays published in Germany on Adorno's return from the USA, and reprinted in the Critical Models essays collection ( ISBN 0-231-07635-5 ), Adorno praised the egalitarianism and openness of US society based on his sojourn in New York and the Los Angeles area between 1935 and 1955.