The Nature of Critique: Revisiting Adorno’s “Natural History” amid the Postcritique Debates

This article revisits Adorno’s concept of “natural history” to propose an alternative to the exhausted paradigm of denaturalizing critique. As Jonathan Crary’s work on the ruination of sleep illustrates, the reflex to denounce natural limits as ideological constructs falls short when it comes to confronting social pathologies wrought by late capitalism’s demand for infinite flexibility. Since its Enlightenment origins, however, critical thought has tended to attack natural limits as illegitimate barriers to human self-determination, even before this strategy became, with Nietzsche, the sole rationale behind denaturalizing critique. By contrast, Adorno’s concept of natural history offers a profound (if long-overlooked) self-critique of critique’s one-sided reliance on denaturalization: it suggests how it is possible to harness natural limits as levers for emancipatory transformation rather than blindly calling for the transformation of given limits. Pace Adorno, such natural-historical critique may clarify emerging forms of political praxis, especially those fighting for environmental justice.