»Critical theory declares: things do not have to be this way;
people can change reality;
the conditions to do so are now in place.«

Since it was founded and opened in 1923-24, the Institute for Social Research has stood for a critical theory of society that confronts the prevailing social conditions with their unrealized possibilities. It understands itself as a place of cooperative, public and intervening social science.

The IfS is a foundation under public law whose core funding is provided by the State of Hesse and the City of Frankfurt. It is closely connected with Faculty 03 of Goethe University via the cooperative professorship for »Social Theory and Social Research.«