One-Dimensional Man
Also known as One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society
Herbert Marcuse's 1964 critique of control in both capitalist and Soviet industrial society.
At a glance
Key ideas
False needs, Totalitarian democracy, The integrated working class …
See all 4Reception
Douglas Kellner, Paul Mattick, Ronald Aronson
See all 3Connections
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- Marcuse argues that advanced industrial society creates false needs that bind people to production and consumption through media, advertising and management.
- The result is a one-dimensional world in which critical thought and opposition wither.
- He finds new forms of repression in both the capitalist West and the Soviet Union.
- Against this he calls for the "great refusal" and defends negative thinking.
Why it matters
- It became a key text of the 1960s New Left and is still read as a critique of consumer society.
Key facts
Key ideas
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False needs1
Needs imposed to integrate people into the system.
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Totalitarian democracy1
A society claiming to be democratic can be totalitarian through technological rationality.
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The integrated working class1
The workers no longer play the revolutionary role Marx expected.
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Outsiders1
He looks instead to minorities, outsiders and the radical intelligentsia.
Reception
Connections
Written by
Links
Sources
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