Who Goes Nazi? Theodor Adorno and The Authoritarian Personality (In-Person)

Commissioned initially as a study of American anti-Semitism, The Authoritarian Personality, co-written by Theodor Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik, Daniel Levinson, and Nevitt Sanford, took ultimately a far wider purview: an analysis of “the type of person—in many respects characteristic of our time—whose general psychological disposition makes him a potential follower of totalitarian movements.” Combining Freudian psychoanalysis with the survey methods of empirical sociology, The Authoritarian Personality identified, across post-war American society, the prevalence of what its authors called “the potentially fascistic individual”—that is, a personality that’s at once rationalistic yet superstitious, individualistic yet submissive, aggressive yet deeply insecure. A landmark work of political sociology and psychology, The Authoritarian Personality has not ceased to generate controversy and reconsideration—-not least by Adorno himself, who later remarked, contra the book’s methodology, “Fascism as such is not a psychological issue.” Yet, with the rise of the U.S. far right (with its ludicrous cast of characters and loyal mass base), The Authoritarian Personality remains a highly compelling inquiry into the psychic origins and character of the fascistic individual. How can we understand the authoritarian personality? What are its roots in modern childhood, family, and social experience? And what would it mean to “cure” the authoritarian psyche? Can fascism be remedied by therapy, or is the total transformation of society required?

In this course, we will engage in an intensive study of The Authoritarian Personality, interrogating its integration of social science and psychoanalysis, and considering the validity, conceptually and empirically, of its methodology and conclusions. We will examine its famous F-Scale—its formal measure of authoritarian proclivities and propensities—and its constitutive factors, including sex, cynicism, aggression, superstition, etc. And we’ll attend to the book’s Freudian account of childhood development in the emergence of fascistic personalities. We will ask: Are individuals indeed reducible to types? Do authoritarian personalities “naturally” gravitate to right-wing politics? How, when considering the origins and salience of fascism, can we understand the interplay of “subjective” forces with the “objective” conditions of society? Finally, how can we read The Authoritarian Personality with and against other works of Frankfurt School critical theory, including Adorno’s earlier and later treatments of the emergence of fascism in capitalist society? As we go, we will make use of Verso’s recent re-issue of the unabridged edition of The Authoritarian Personality, reading it alongside a number of more recent articles and commentaries. Students should expect a careful and systematic study of this path-breaking book, prompted by the rise of authoritarianism in America and the fascist tendencies that made it possible. 

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Course Schedule

Tuesday, 6:30-9:30pm ET
June 03 — June 24, 2025
4 weeks

$335.00

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