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The contemporary authoritarian personality: critical theory and the resurgence of rightwing authoritarianism

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journal contribution
posted on 2021-01-01, 00:00 authored by Geoff BoucherGeoff Boucher, Madeleine Schneider
This paper examines the authoritarian personality in contemporary society from a standpoint influenced by Habermas. It focuses on critical-theoretical analyses of the Trump presidency that refer to the classical work of the Frankfurt School, as a test case for its position. We survey the classical theory and recent extensions of the original research on the authoritarian personality, concluding that the concept of an authoritarian personality remains a valid social-psychological construct. However, the classical framework directs contemporary researchers working on authoritarianism today to look in the wrong directions. From the classical perspective, authoritarianism is seen as a symptom of a dark underside to the personality structure of the modern individual that becomes activated by economic insecurity. The sociological and psychological evidence suggests something very different is happening. Authoritarian populism in the Western world is a result of cultural backlash rather than economic insecurity. Furthermore, the parenting patterns that produce authoritarian personalities are in relative decline today. From the perspective of recent critical theory, it is not surprising that authoritarian forces concentrate on culture wars. Their agenda is to restore the cultural coordinates that once protected social stratification, the denial of rights, and prejudices against excluded groups. It is the agenda of a privileged minority who no longer pretend to represent the “silent majority,” but know themselves to be an archipelago of hardline attitudes in a rising sea of liberal values. This has to be connected with the crisis tendencies of contemporary capitalism, which—at present—involve the displacement of crises into legitimation and motivation problems. The political positions adopted by authoritarian populists such as Trump have a functional role to play in managing system crises. They seek to engineer a return to forms of socialisation based on obedience to authority and plebiscitary acclamation instead of democratic engagement. The threat to democracy is real and likely to increase; Trump might have lost the election, for instance, but authoritarianism in America has gained a constituency. Understanding the roots of contemporary authoritarianism and their relation to culture wars is a crucial part of grasping what is new in authoritarian populism today and how it might be prevented.

History

Journal

Berlin journal of critical theory

Volume

5

Issue

1

Article number

3

Pagination

59 - 98

Publisher

Springer

Location

Berlin, Germany

ISSN

2567-4048

eISSN

2567-4056

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

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