Symposium on The Past in Ruins

In: Telos, Heft 94, S. 3-102

Abstract

An introduction to a symposium on David Gross's The Past in Ruins: Tradition and the Critique of Modernity (Amherst: U of Massachusetts Press, 1992) discusses the decline of radical movements, blaming it, in part, on current social disintegration & widespread nihilism. In Symposium on The Past in Ruins: Rethinking Traditions, Gross offers reflections on the obsolescence of tradition within late modernity, contending that the West is so entirely within the framework of modernity that it is neither possible nor desirable to seek a return to premodernity. Gross discusses the need for more criticism regarding modernity, the value of negative thinking, & the divergence between his critique of modernity & that of the neopopulists. In Neo-Populism: Fabricating the Future by Rehabbing the Past?, Tim Luke argues that Gross's book presents a highly reified interpretation of tradition that neglects the possibility that there are modern forms of tradition & traditional forms of modernism. In Confucian Capitalism: Recycling Traditions, Sang-ki Kim argues that Gross's book is flawed because it is concerned with protecting individual autonomy against the state & market manipulation when it should be focusing on the root of the present crisis -- the erosion of the foundation of traditional institutions indispensable for social stability. In The Utopian Function of Tradition, Jack Zipes takes issue with Gross's argument that the "otherness" of tradition can provide a basis for the radical critique of capitalism, & questions Gross's minimization of the utopian function of traditions. In Tradition and Critique, Deborah Cook is skeptical of Gross's nostalgia for tradition, & argues that Gross's characterization of modernity as antitraditional needs to be reexamined. In Problems with Traditions, Robert D'Amico lauds Gross's analysis, but questions its claims that tradition can be drawn on to further the tasks of critical theory. D'Amico also criticizes Gross for an underdevelopment of the concept of tradition & for his assessment of the level of social control exercised by commercial culture. In Tradition and the Critical Talent, John Michael argues that Gross presents a distorted picture of tradition & suggests that Gross's ideas regarding how tradition can inspire critical movements are suspect. In Rotten Traditions?, Russell Jacoby rejects Gross's claim that traditions can be drawn on to sustain a critique of contemporary culture because it lacks normative criteria for determining which traditions to use. In Second Thoughts on Traditions, Paul Gottfried discusses Gross's account of how contemporary tradition is constituted by capitalists & politicians, & suggests that reestablishing "useful" traditions will be proven difficult in a country that no longer needs them. In On Tradition, Theodor W. Adorno explores the origin of the concept of "tradition," discusses the relationship between tradition & critique, & shows, via a reading of Samuel Beckett, that tradition survives in the antitraditional consciousness of what has been rendered historically obsolete. In Tradition?, Alain de Benoist examines definitions of tradition & traditionalism, asserting that tradition is a coherent body of intangible & sacred principles imposed on all that delineates the essential rules of conduct allowing humans to accede to the suprahuman level. In The Actuality of Traditions, Paul Piccone discusses the personalization of politics & the politics of authenticity in the course of examining Gross's account of the relation between modernity & tradition. Drawing heavily on Adorno, Piccone agrees that tradition can facilitate cultural critique, but questions the extent to which Gross's analysis relies on modernist ideology. W. Howard