New German CRITIQUE NUMBER 83» SPRING/SUMMER 2001 CE MARKUS + COMMODITY AS PHANTASMAGORIA STEINER + BENJAMIN'S CONCEPT OF THE POLITICAL LONG + BENJAMIN, HEIDEGGER. ART AND POLITICS ISENBERG + BENJAMIN IN THE AGE OF INFORMATION KAUFMANN * ADORNO, BENJAMIN AND THEOLOGY LOwy + MESSIANISM IN SCHOLEM'S EARLY WORK | ll 84> a 27 0lg055 7,NEW GERMAN CRITIQUE An Interdisciplinary Journal of German Studies Editors: David Bathrick (Ithaca), Miriam Hansen (Chicago), Peter U. Hohendahl (Ithaca), Andreas Huyssen (New York), Biddy Martin (Ithaca), Anson Rabinbach (Princeton), Jack Zipes (Minneapolis) Contributing Editors: Leslie Adelson (Ithaca), Susan Buck-Morss (Ithaca), Gerd Gemiinden (Hanover), Agnes Heller (New York), Andrei Markovits (Ann Arbor), Eric Rentschler (Cambridge), James Steakley (Madison), Michael Richardson (Ithaca) Managing Editor: Michael Richardson (Ithaca). Assistant Editors: Jill Gillespie (Ithaca), Andrew Homan (New York), Franz Peter Hugdahl (Ithaca), Andrew Piper (New York), Casey Servais (Ithaca). Graphics Editor: Brendan K. Bathrick (New York) Published three times a year by TELOS PRESS, 431 F. 12th St, New York, NY 10009. New German Critique No. 83 corresponds to Vol. 28, No. 2. © New Ger- man Critique, Inc. 2002. All rights reserved. New German Critique is a non- profit, educational organization supported by the Department of German Studies of Comell University Address all editorial correspondence to: New German Critique, Department of German Studies, 183 Goldwin Smith Hall, Comell University, Ithaca, New York 14853. For New German Critique format and style information, please visit our homepage: hitp://www-arts.comell.eduinge The annual subscription rate is $35.00 individuals; $80.00 institutions. All for- ccign subscribers 15% extra. All back issues are available at $14.00 a copy for individuals and $30.00 a copy for institutions. For subscriptions and back issues write to: NEW GERMAN CRITIQUE, Telos Press Ltd., 431 East [2th Street, New York, New York, 10009, Articles appearing in this journal are annotated and indexed in Historical Abstracts and American History and LifeNEW GERMAN CRITIQUE Number 83 Spring-Summer 2001 ‘Special Issue on: Walter Benjamin Walter Benjamin or: The Commodity as Phantasmagoria. 3 Gyorgy Markus ‘The True Politician: Walter Benjamin's Concept of the Political ......0nnnnenenn dS Uwe Steiner Art’s Fateful Hour: Benjamin, Heidegger, Art and Politics........89 Christopher P. Long ‘The Work of Walter Benjamin in the Age of Information 119 Noak Isenberg Beyond Use, Within Reason: Adomo, Benjamin and the Question of Theology. 151 David Kaufmann Messianism in the Early Work of Gershom Scholem. 7 Michael Lowy