Hope in a Warming World: Rereading Adorno on Progress

This article argues for the value inherent in rereading Theodor Adorno’s 1962 essay “Progress,” placing his thoughts in the context of the climate crisis and arguing for the necessity of retaining a form of negative hope in critical theory. First, the article retraces his analysis of the relation between history and catastrophe, itself indebted to the writings of Walter Benjamin. Second, the article shows how Adorno relates the aforementioned idea to the historical genealogy of philosophies of progress and their theological inheritance. Third, the article focuses on his critical reworking of the concept of progress and its relation to the dialectic of freedom and unfreedom. Finally, the article attempts to place Adorno’s ideas in the context of the dangers posed by the climate crisis, showing that his thought remains extremely relevant to the present historical situation.