Entfremdung und Illusion

Alienation and Illusion. Social Action in the Modern Society. (Text in German) The author sees a central problem of modern society in the individual's renunciation of influencing seemingly autonomous institutions, as suggested by various bureaucracies. The resulting deficit in the society's self control can not be solved by a cultural industry which would compensate the lack of interaction between institution and clients. Pöttker suggests that journalism, the educational system and social science itself should be assigned to making consequences of social actions understandable, so that the individuals can consider these consequences and that thus can consider these consequences for what they do or do not do.