Are the Concepts of Authoritarianism Still Appropriate? –A Discussion Proposal on the Occasion of Erich Fromm’s 125th Birthday
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Abstract
Against the background of a worldwide “authoritarian turn”, the question is asked to what extent social science conceptions of authoritarianism do justice to current social developments and to what extent it is worth looking for supplementary explanations? After a look at the well-known history of authoritarianism research, various conceptions of authoritarianism are discussed: Altemeyer’s “right-wing authoritarianism”, the conception of authoritarianism by Decker and colleagues, the theory of social dominance by Sidanius and Pratto, the “dual process model” by Duckitt and the conception of libertarian authoritarianism by Amlinger and Nachtwey. Finally, the concept of “Group Narcissism” by Erich Fromm is compared with the “Social Identity Approach” by Tajfel and colleagues. For Erich Fromm, group narcissism is a relatively stable aspect of a social character. Authoritarian group narcissists care exclusively and without scruples about their own (and group-related) uniqueness, their power and their money and therefore shamelessly discriminate against weak and inferior groups. It is therefore proposed to discuss whether group narcissism could not be a useful and theoretical approach to observe and analyze the elitism of Trumpists and their supporters in addition to the existing concepts of authoritarianism.
Keywords: Authoritarian Turn, Authoritarianism, Group Narcissism, Trumpism
Bibliography: Frindte, Wolfgang: Sind die Konzeptionen des Autoritarismus noch passfähig? – Ein Diskussionsvorschlag anlässlich des 125. Geburtstags von Erich Fromm, ZRex – Zeitschrift für Rechtsextremismusforschung, 2-2025, pp. 238-254.
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