In this series of accessible lectures, Fredric Jameson explores German philosophy and critical theory as it developed in the wake of World War Two. Focusing on key thinkers - Horkheimer, Adorno, Heidegger, Habermas, Marcuse, Beuys, Enzensberger, Kluge, and Sloterdijk - Jameson weaves close readings of texts with anecdotes and aperçus to craft a narrative about the uses of theory. He delves into world-historical phenomena, such as the legacy of Nazism and the formation of the European Union, in a story that stretches from the postwar division of Germany to its reunification at the end of the Cold War.After Year Zero is a vital account of the German critical tradition, as understood by the "most significant Marxist thinker in American culture."
