Function and relevancee of the Theorie-Reihe (Theory-Series) published by Suhrkamp Publishers in the context of intellectual discourse of the 60th and 70th years

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Stefan Müller-Doohm
• Subject Area: Communication Sciences ; Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2017 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 392069939

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The main results of the research project can be summarized in the following points: The theory series had already become a model shortly after its founding and realization, also and especially for the study book series that were later launched by other publishers (for example Fischer-Athenäum paperback). For the Suhrkamp publishing house in the founding years under the leadership of Siegfried Unseld, the cultural capital of the series with the prominent editors of different philosophical schools of thought and the exquisite titles (many translations) was of primary importance. The publisher only brought economic and commercial factors of program design into play after a longer run and trial period and a continued stagnation in sales. Unseld's privileged treatment of the editors, whose meetings the publisher usually attended, goes back to the fact that he was proud of 'his' professors and that he had the right assessment from the outset that the theory series would be a profitable draw. The theory series acted as a Trojan horse for the entire program policy in the area of humanities and social sciences at Suhrkamp Verlag. The aura of the theory series, with which, as it turns out, the publisher has written scientific history, goes back to the early addition of philosophical titles by T. W. Adorno and Walter Benjamin to the publisher's important literary program, initiated by Peter Suhrkamp. It has turned out (contrary to the working hypothesis) that there were no clear, universally accepted and enforced criteria for the inclusion of titles in the series by the editors. With the theory series, Suhrkamp Verlag was able to achieve hegemony over the academic paperback market and the academic field over the years. It was possible to establish and prove that there was a connection between the program policy pursued by the editors and their academic educational mission. The evaluated documents and correspondence as well as conversations show that there were occasional conflicts regarding the decision-making process regarding authors and titles. The editor Karl Markus Michel played a mediating role in resolving the conflicts. The research results confirm Karl Markus Michel's formative and determining role. Michel is responsible for more titles than the editors combined. It could not be confirmed that individual editors had the authority to interpret the program policy. The research results suggest that the theory series was a compromise product.

Publications

• Antithetisches Schreiben und die Bilderwelt der Minima Moralia, in: Ebend. S. 95-105.
  Müller-Doohm, Stefan
  
• „Eigentum verpflichtet“ – die Revolte im Suhrkamp Verlag. Siegfried Unseld und der Verlag der Autoren, in: Offener Horizont. Jahrbuch der Karl Jaspers-Gesellschaft, Göttingen: Wallstein 2018, S. 442-458.
  Schopf, Wolfgang
  
• Biographieforschung. Ein Lern- und Erfahrungsbericht, in: Michaela Pfadenhauer/Elisabeth Scheibelhofer (Hg.): Interpretative Sozialforschung, Weinheim und Basel: Juventa, S. 166-178.
  Müller-Doohm, Stefan
  
• Die Theorie-Reihe im Suhrkamp Verlag. Jürgen Habermas und Dieter Henrich im Diskurs mit Siegfried Unseld. Offener Horizont, 459-477. Wallstein Verlag.
  Henken, Ansgar Baumgart & Yentl, Katharina
  
• Peter Suhrkamp und sein Verlag, in: Offener Horizont. Jahrbuch der Karl Jaspers-Gesellschaft 2019/20, Göttingen: Wallstein, S. 442-458.
  Schopf, Wolfgang
  
• »Bangemachen gilt nicht.« Theodor W. Adorno als Aufklärer. Offener Horizont, 513-527. Wallstein Verlag.
  Müller-Doohm, Stefan
  
• „in einen Kreis aufgenommen“. Dankesrede zur Verleihung des Dr. phil honoris causae. Oldenburger Universitätsreden Bd. 216, Oldenburg: BIS-Verlag.
  Schopf, Wolfgang
  
• Einer kann ohne den anderen nicht. Intellektuelle brauchen Medien, um gehört zu werden. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 25.01.2021
  Müller-Doohm, Stefan
  
• Habermas, Adorno and the New Left, in: Anders Bartonek / Sven-Olov Wallenstein (Hg.): Critical Theory. Past, Present, Future, Huddinge: Södertöom, S. 25-40.
  Müller-Doohm, Stefan
  
• Ins Denken ziehen. Verlag C.H.BECK oHG.
  Henrich, Dieter; Bormuth, Matthias & Bülow, Ulrich
  
• Vernünftige Freiheit. Jürgen Habermas. Das Geisterreich, 158-174. Wallstein Verlag.
  Bormuth, Matthias
  
• Über das Verhalten in der Gefahr. Peter Suhrkamp. Das Geisterreich, 122-134. Wallstein Verlag.
  Bormuth, Matthias
  
• Des Herzens Meinung. Der späte Dieter Henrich, in: Sinn und Form 3, S. 380-390.
  Bormuth, Matthias
  
• Soziologie und Philosophie bei Jürgen Habermas. Die Präsenz des Vergangenen, 189-203. Brill | Fink.
  Müller-Doohm, Stefan
  
• Adorno und Habermas. Zwei Spielarten nachmetaphysischen Denkens, in: Stefan Müller- Doohm u.a. (Hrsg.): Vernünftige Freiheit. Beiträge zum Spätwerk von Jürgen Habermas, Berlin: Suhrkamp, S. 106- 128.
  Müller-Doohm, Stefan
  
• Adornos »Minima Moralia«. FELIX MEINER VERLAG.
  Esther, Helena & Müller-Doohm, Stefan
  
• Ambivalenz der Freiheit. Eine Heidelberger Spurensuche zu Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie, in: Stefan Müller-Doohm, Smail Rapic und Tilol Wesche (Hg.): Vernünftige Freiheit. Beiträge zum Spätwerk von Jürgen Habermas, Berlin: Suhrkamp, S. 74-105.
  Bormuth, Matthias
  
• Jürgen Habermas. Gespräche . “Es musste etwas besser werden…”, Berlin 2024: Suhrkamp.
  Müller-Doohm, Stefan & Roman Yos