victorious proletariat,and last but not least,the foundation of human empa-
thy.”²⁶ He later explains thatstatistics“does notmove away from the living
human being;itleadstowardthe living human being.Itshowswherethe indi-
vidual can feel compassionate, wherehecan feel joy.One can onlyfeel part of a
community with others when one can visualize how thatentity suffersand rejoi-
ces.”²⁷What could describe better the enlistment of figurationandabstraction,
and of emotionandcognition, presented byFranzWilhelm Seiwert and the Co-
logne Progressivesasthe basisofproletarian identifications? After 1933,Arntz
and Neurath in exile continued to promotethe benefitsofpictorial statistics to
solve the problems of modern class society and industrial modernity,whereas
the Cologne Progressivesweredenounced as representativesofdegenerate art.
It wasavery different tradition of class solidarity,associated with much older
notions of community,that gainedremarkable visibilityduring theWeimar
years. The next chapter on theSprechchorwill identify some of its performative
qualities and emotionalregimes.
OttoNeurath,Lebensgestaltung und Klassenkampf(Berlin: E. Laub, 1928), 124.
Neurath,Lebensgestaltung und Klassenkampf,280.
Franz Wilhelm Seiwert’sCriticalEmpathy 221