Possibilities for Libertation from Criticism of Modern Barbarism: Education, Emancipation and Radicalization of the Concept of History in Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno.

The alternatives for emancipation are examined by authors linked to the Critical Theory of society. The rise of fascism in expression in the most diverse forms of authoritarianism is part of the horizon analyzed by Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno. Nowadays, there is a resurgence of many movements that achieve more and more spaces in the environments of democracy. The rise of Fascism is present in various contexts, for example, in the neo-Nazi demonstrations in the United States that occurred at the time and the strengthening of the right-wing extremists after the Impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.

Here it is aimed to highlight, from the dialogue between the writings of Benjamin and Adorno, the emancipatory potential of the concept of History in its mediation with the conception of critical education. It is intended to indicate how the dialogue between the two authors provides a critical formulation to modern barbarism.

The objective is to point how Education, especially from a critical referential, promotes an alternative to the totalitarianism that currently frightens contemporary democracies. In this sense, we use the concept of history outlined by Walter Benjamin in the Theses on the concept of History and the propositions on an emancipatory education of Adorno. From this set of essays, it is shown the role of history as a tool for enlightenment in the light of examples from Brazil's recent history.

Finally, we analyze the recent attempt to promote a history “task to brush history against the grain” through the experience of the victims of the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985) and the importance of a critical reference for this type of alternative. Thus, we try to outline an alternative experience for the current scenario described here.