Description
Book SynopsisHow to Critique Authoritarian Populism: Methodologies of the Frankfurt School offers a comprehensive introduction to the techniques used by the early Frankfurt School to study and combat authoritarianism and authoritarian populism. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the writings of the early Frankfurt School, at the same time as authoritarian populist movements are resurging in Europe and the Americas. This volume shows why and how Frankfurt School methodologies can and should be used to address the rise of authoritarianism today. Critical theory scholars are assembled from a variety of disciplines to discuss Frankfurt School approaches to dialectical philosophy, psychoanalytic theory, human subjects research, discourse analysis and media studies. Contributors include: Robert J. Antonio, Stefanie Baumann, Christopher Craig Brittain, Dustin J. Byrd, Mariana Caldas Pinto Ferreira, Panayota Gounari, Peter-Erwin Jansen, Imaculada Kangussu, Douglas Kellner, Dan Krier, Lauren Langman, Claudia Leeb, Gregory Joseph Menillo, Jeremiah Morelock, Felipe Ziotti Narita, Michael R. Ott, Charles Reitz, Avery Schatz, Rudolf J. Siebert, William M. Sipling, David Norman Smith, Daniel Sullivan, and AK Thompson.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Illustrations Notes on Contributors Introduction: Frankfurt School Methodologies Jeremiah Morelock and Daniel Sullivan PART 1 Dialectics 1 When History Fails Us: Immanent Critique of Capitalism to the New Right and Beyond Robert J. Antonio 2 A Dialectical Constellation of Authoritarian Populism in the United States and Brazil Jeremiah Morelock and Felipe Ziotti Narita 3 Capital Fetishism and the Authoritarian Personality: Critical Theory in the Weimar Years David Norman Smith 4 Mythology, Enlightenment, and Dialectic: Determinate Negation Rudolf J. Siebert, Michael R. Ott, and Dustin J. Byrd PART 2 Psychoanalysis 5 The Dialectic of Unreason: Authoritarianism and the Irrational Lauren Langman and Avery Schatz 6 Adorno and Freud Meet Kazuo Ishiguro: The Rise of the Far- Right from a Psychoanalytic Critical Theory Perspective Claudia Leeb 7 Marcuse and the Symbolic Roles of the Father: Someone to Watch over Me Imaculada Kangussu 8 “Variation within a Single Paradigm”: The Latent Authoritarian Dynamics of the Culture Industry Gregory Joseph Menillo 9 What Would Jesus Do? Christianity as Wish Image and Historical Bloc AK Thompson PART 3 Human Subjects 10 Mobilization of Bias Today: The Renewed Use of Established Techniques; A Reconsideration of Two Studies on Prejudice from the Institute for Social Research Peter-Erwin Jansen 11 From ‘False’ to ‘Reified’ Consciousness: Tracing the isr’s Critical Research on Authoritarianism Daniel Sullivan 12 Franz Neumann’s Behemoth and Trumpism: Comprehending the Beast of Bad Government Dan Krier 13 Donald Trump and the Stigmata of Democracy: Adorno and the Consolidation of a Religious Racket Christopher Craig Brittain PART 4 Media Discourse 14 Siegfried Kracauer and the Interpretation of Films Jeremiah Morelock 15 How to Mediate Reality: Thinking Documentary Film with Adorno and Horkheimer Stefanie Baumann 16 One-dimensional Social Media: The Discourse of Authoritarianism and the Authoritarianism of Discourse Panayota Gounari 17 Applying and Extrapolating Prophets of Deceit: Heuristics of ‘Agitator’ Identification through Löwenthal and Guterman’s Analysis William M. Sipling 18 Dialectical Images and Contemporary Times: Thinking Critically about Authoritarian Populism Mariana Caldas Pinto Ferreira Afterword Douglas Kellner Index
