This chapter examines the complex reception of the first-generation Frankfurt School’s critical theory in Chile from the 1960s to the present. Through a bottom-up historical reconstruction, it analyzes how key texts by Horkheimer, Adorno, Benjamin, Fromm, and Marcuse were interpreted and appropriated within shifting political and institutional contexts. The study reveals how the 1973 coup d’état and the subsequent dictatorship dramatically disrupted the early reception of these works, leading to their resurgence in the 1990s during Chile’s democratic transition. The analysis identifies two distinct phases: an initial period in which Frankfurt School texts supported democratization processes and critical reflections on Chilean society, followed by a more recent reception focused on academia within the professionalized social sciences. This shift reflects broader transformations in Chilean intellectual life, as the reception of critical theory evolved from political engagement to specialized academic discourse. The chapter contributes to understanding how critical theory travels and is reinterpreted across different historical and institutional contexts.