Good call. He was one of those early voices trying to move Marxism beyond just the economic dimension. Frankfurt school did not develop in a vacuum.
Discussion
Yep. He sought to move classical (materialist) Marxism from "seize the means of _production_" to "seize the means of _cultural_ production"--hence the term, 'cultural Marxism.' He put the crosshairs on five key 'centers of cultural production': family, religion, education, media, and law--which could be a chapter list for a documentray on the Western 'culture wars' for the past ~65 years.
The Frankfurt Schoolers asked the question, why do people submit to authority (why did the proletariat still go fight and die, in these recent world wars, for the bourgousie)? That's when they turned from outward circumstances to the 'production' of inward circumstances--that is, they turned to Freudian psychology. The answer they got? 'Love of father' and the nuclear family. "Down with patriarchy!"
Marx + Freud = Frankfurt School. At least, as I understand it.
Just a cursory review of Gramsci would support that. One scholar said that Gramsci was a proponent of teaching sex to kids early to help undermine the traditional family and replace it with the state system. I’m sure Freud would have seen the power of that tactic. Not saying Freud harbored pedo tendencies, but he did boil most things down to sex and basic id functions. And if you want a great critique of cultural Marxism from a Biblical standpoint, Fault Lines by Voddie Bachman is a must read.
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