IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v8y2021i1d10.1057_s41599-021-00819-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Authoritarianism as pathology of recognition: the sociological substance and actuality of the authoritarian personality

Author

Listed:
  • Benno Herzog

    (University of Valencia)

Abstract

The rise of the notions of authoritarianism and the authoritarian personality is directly linked to pathologies of early modernity and to social constellations that systematically produce dispositions of character that ultimately form the base of Nazi fascism. The aim of this article, thus, is to explore sociological actuality, i.e., the explanatory power and informative value of the concepts of authoritarianism and the authoritarian personality. Therefore, throughout the article, authoritarianism is framed as a social, i.e., relational approach, similar to that of recognition. However, as authoritarianism does not point towards autonomy, it can be read as a pathology of recognition. The text starts by presenting authoritarianism and authoritarian personality as introduced to the academic debate by early Critical Theory, including a description of the historical and intellectual conditions of the time. It then explores three essential elements of these concepts and how they have changed from then to now; namely, authorities, authoritarian measures, and psychological dispositions used to accept both. The sociological tools thus laid open are then used to respond to current questions about authoritarianism using the example of the impact of experts on crisis discourses. Pointing towards discursive mediation, I ask when and how the need to rely on experts fosters authoritarianism. There are basically two ways of understanding authoritarianism as still present in our society. The first is as a backward-leaning ideology of the good old times. Especially in politics, we can find a wish to overcome complex democratic decision-making procedures with strong, authoritarian leadership. The second form involves understanding authoritarianism not as a personal authority but as a swarm authority in the modern and (digital) panopticon. This pathology of recognition leads to alienated relations with others as mere anonymous providers of evaluations.

Suggested Citation

  • Benno Herzog, 2021. "Authoritarianism as pathology of recognition: the sociological substance and actuality of the authoritarian personality," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:8:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-021-00819-5
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-00819-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-021-00819-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-021-00819-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luke Munn, 2020. "Angry by design: toxic communication and technical architectures," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Wati, Linda, 2018. "Ideology and Discourse Analysis," INA-Rxiv c5dhj, Center for Open Science.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhou-min Yuan & Tang-yun Leng & Hao Wang, 2022. "Understanding National Identity Construction in China-ASEAN Business Discourse," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440211, January.
    2. Mustafa Ar, 2018. "The Discursive Construction of National Identity in Speeches of Wen Jiabao in Response to the 2008©¤2011 Global Financial-Economic Recessions," Studies in Media and Communication, Redfame publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 41-52, June.
    3. Raeda Tartory, 2020. "Critical Discourse Analysis of Online Publications Ideology: A Case of Middle Eastern Online Publications," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    4. Smaldino, Paul E. & Russell, Adam & Zefferman, Matthew & Donath, Judith & Foster, Jacob & Guilbeault, Douglas & Hilbert, Martin & Hobson, Elizabeth A. & Lerman, Kristina & Miton, Helena, 2024. "Information Architectures: A Framework for Understanding Socio-Technical Systems," SocArXiv c7vrw, Center for Open Science.
    5. Aatif Iftikhar & Zubair Shafiq, 2019. "The Portrayal of Pak-US Relations in Print Media: An Analysis of War on Terror and Militancy in Pakistan during the Republican and the Democratic Regimes," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(3), pages 10-19, September.
    6. Clara Siagian & Sandra Arifiani & Putri Amanda & Santi Kusumaningrum, 2019. "Supporting Children, Blaming Parents: Frontline Providers’ Perception of Childhood’s Adversity and Parenthood in Indonesia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-20, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:8:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-021-00819-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.