Critical Theory and the Authoritarian Personality

Geoff M. Boucher

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Critical Theory and the Authoritarian Personality

Geoff M. Boucher

Language: English

Published/Copyright: 2025

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About this book

Analyses the resurgence of the radical Right and the psychodynamic basis of authoritarian politics

Updates the thinking of Theodor Adorno in light of the work of Slavoj Zizek
Presents a psychoanalytic theory of authoritarian propaganda
Explores authoritarian dystopias as templates for terrorism

The worldwide resurgence of authoritarianism has sparked renewed interest in the Frankfurt School theory of the authoritarian personality, not as a topic of academic debate but as an urgent political factor. Critical Theory and the Authoritarian Personality brings Theodor Adorno’s critique up-to-date in light of new forms of authoritarian politics, recent kinds of authoritarian propaganda and current findings about authoritarian personalities. Drawing on the work of Slavoj Zizek and the psychoanalysis of Jacques Lacan, this is the first sustained application of psychoanalytic theory to the problem of the authoritarian personality since the classical work of the Frankfurt School. It explores a pressing problem—the resurgence of the radical Right—and proposes new solutions, grounded in the idea of an affective approach to authoritarian politics as something based on transgressive fantasies and political anxieties. Throughout, the book illustrates its theoretical claims with reference to new kinds of authoritarian literature, which today forms an important part of right-wing propaganda.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction—Adorno Today: The Authoritarian Personality, Rightwing Populism, and the Subversion of Democracy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	1
1 QAnon: Dark Fantasy and the Authoritarian Personality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	34
2 The Classical Theory of the Authoritarian Personality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	65
3 A Lacanian Interpretation of the Authoritarian Personality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	93
4 White Pride and the Next Holocaust: The Camp of the Saints Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	121
5 Rightwing Survivalism and the Authoritarian Personality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	145
6 Neofascism: The Vortex of Destructiveness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	175
7 Authoritarian Insurgencies: Scenarios for a Second Civil War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	204
Selected Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	234
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed	241

Publishing information

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

eBook published on:

February 5, 2025

eBook ISBN:

9781399502160

Pages and Images/Illustrations in book

Main content:

254

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781399502160

eBook ISBN: 9781399502160

Keywords for this book

Politics

Audience(s) for this book

For universities and colleges of further and higher education

Critical Theory and the Authoritarian Personality

Overview

About this book

Topics

Table of contents

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