Abstract

The essay aims to build a bridge between Adorno's philosophy and gender studies in the light of the critique of the political thought based on identity. The paradoxical character of the early critical theory - which should criticize rationality while avoiding irrationalism - is strongly underlined and compared with the antisocial tendencies of some currents of queer studies (such L. Bersani and L. Edelman). Starting from this analysis, the essay argues that Adorno's critical theory still provides several unexploited possibilities for going beyond the aporia of postmodernism.