Difference between revisions of "Karl August Wittfogel"
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| − | '''Karl August Wittfogel''' (6 September 1896 - 25 May 1988). Wittfogel was a [[German]] [[historian]] and [[sinologist]]. In the 1920s and early 30s, he was an active member of the [[German Communist party]] and, between 1925 and 1933, a member of the [[Frankfurt School]]. | + | '''Karl August Wittfogel''' (6 September 1896 - 25 May 1988). Wittfogel was a [[German]] [[sociologist]], [[historian]] and [[sinologist]]. In the 1920s and early 30s, he was an active member of the [[German Communist party]] and, between 1925 and 1933, a member of the [[Frankfurt School]]. |
[[Deconstruction]]ism, [[critical thinking]], and the [[political correctness]] movement were birthed at the Frankfurt School. Leading figures of the Frankfurt School are [[Theodor Adorno]], [[Max Horkheimer]], Herbert Marcuse, and Wittfogel as well. [http://www.riseofthewest.net/thinkers/wittfogel01.htm] | [[Deconstruction]]ism, [[critical thinking]], and the [[political correctness]] movement were birthed at the Frankfurt School. Leading figures of the Frankfurt School are [[Theodor Adorno]], [[Max Horkheimer]], Herbert Marcuse, and Wittfogel as well. [http://www.riseofthewest.net/thinkers/wittfogel01.htm] | ||
| − | After being interned in a [[concentration camp]] by the [[Nazi]]s (1931–33), he moved to the [[United States]], | + | After being interned in a [[concentration camp]] by the [[Nazi]]s (1931–33), he moved to [[England]] and then the [[United States]], where he was part of the Frankfurt Institute at [[Columbia University]]. With his second wife Olga Lang he visited China to conduct sociological fieldwork in the 1920s. Wittfogel became a naturalized US-citizen in 1939. He held academic positions at [[Columbia University]] and at the [[University of Washington]]. In 1940 he married anthropologist Esther Schiff Goldfrank. |
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Wittfogel had a point in considering, in the 50s, the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[People's Republic of China]] as the greatest threats to mankind's further development. These two states were the examples he actually had in mind when writing about "Asian despotism", and how it could be vanquished. | Wittfogel had a point in considering, in the 50s, the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[People's Republic of China]] as the greatest threats to mankind's further development. These two states were the examples he actually had in mind when writing about "Asian despotism", and how it could be vanquished. | ||
Revision as of 14:41, March 19, 2010
Karl August Wittfogel (6 September 1896 - 25 May 1988). Wittfogel was a German sociologist, historian and sinologist. In the 1920s and early 30s, he was an active member of the German Communist party and, between 1925 and 1933, a member of the Frankfurt School.
Deconstructionism, critical thinking, and the political correctness movement were birthed at the Frankfurt School. Leading figures of the Frankfurt School are Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, and Wittfogel as well. [1]
After being interned in a concentration camp by the Nazis (1931–33), he moved to England and then the United States, where he was part of the Frankfurt Institute at Columbia University. With his second wife Olga Lang he visited China to conduct sociological fieldwork in the 1920s. Wittfogel became a naturalized US-citizen in 1939. He held academic positions at Columbia University and at the University of Washington. In 1940 he married anthropologist Esther Schiff Goldfrank.
Wittfogel had a point in considering, in the 50s, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China as the greatest threats to mankind's further development. These two states were the examples he actually had in mind when writing about "Asian despotism", and how it could be vanquished.
His research on the relationship between the managerial demands of irrigation agriculture and the development of bureaucratic totalitarianism, outlined in his book, Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power (1957), profoundly shaped anthropological theories of the origins of complex societies and the state.