Avant-garde art, politics, and theory: Dada and beyond

The avant-garde in art and in politics has been a theme examined in the 20^th century by Adorno,  Poggioli,  Bürger and more recently by Badieu.  This paper examines the concept of the avant-garde, its link the ‘new’ and the embeddedness of culture and politics.  Beginning with an examination of the Dada art movement, we explore lessons from later avant-gardes and also explore the vicissitudes of the separation of art and political movements.