It started life as the Institut für Sozialforschung (Institute of Social Research), part of the University of Frankfurt in Germany, in 1923. It was founded by Felix Weil[?] and its first director was Carl Grünberg[?]. It focussed on interdisciplinary study. In 1933, after the rise of Hitler it left Germany for Geneva and then (in 1935) for New York.
Its views of cultural Marxism and critical theory have tended to influence large segments of Left wing thought (particularly the New Left) including the phenomenon known as political correctness.
wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump