New Journal article :

Authoritarianism and Religion: Trump and White American Evangelicals in Cultural Perspective - PDF

by Dr. James McBride, New York University

Abstract:

81% of white American Evangelicals voted for Trump, despite the fact that he embodied moral values they deem repugnant, a twice-divorced, foul-mouthed adulterer, compulsive liar, and unabashed materialist. White Evangelicals offer two reasons for their support: Trump’s alleged conversion to born-again Christianity and status as a “baby Christian”; and his “chosen-ness” as a messianic figure, akin to King David, supposedly anointed by God despite his immoral behavior. Neither of these answers is satisfying. This paper addresses the contradiction between “family values” voters and Trump by drawing on existing literature concerning the relationship of authoritarianism to religion, arguing that white American Evangelicals support Trump because they resonate with his authoritarian values. Over a period of some 70 years since the original publication of Adorno et al.’s The Authoritarian Personality (TAP), social scientific research has identified key characteristics of authoritarianism. TAP was refined in the 1980s-1990s by Robert Altemeyer who developed a survey instrument on Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) based on the key factors of conventionalism, authoritarian aggression, and authoritarian submission. An examination of Trump’s speeches and tweets confirms his use of authoritarian discourse and his endorsement of authoritarian values, most specifically his narcissistic performance as an alleged “strongman” who “alone” can fix democracy. Although there is no inherent relationship between authoritarianism and religion, researchers have identified links between authoritarian values and the practice of “conventional, unquestioned and unreflected religion” commonly found among Evangelicals. However, the single best predictor of authoritarian values according to social scientific research is a specific type of child-rearing which favors respect for elders over independence, good manners over curiosity, being well-behaved over being considerate, and obedience over self-reliance—a model of parenting widely embraced by white American Evangelicals. Hence, Trump embodies a hierarchical view of the world which typifies the authoritarian values of white American Evangelical family life.

Keywords: Trump; Evangelicals; populism; authoritarianism; child-rearing

Dr. James McBride holds both a Ph.D. and J.D. and currently works as a clinical professor at New York University. His interests include: Law, Religious Studies, Politics, Psychoanalysis, Political Economy, Feminist and Critical Theory. He has authored two books: War, Battering and Other Sports: The Gulf Between American Men and Women and Cults, Culture and the Law: Perspectives on the New Religious Movements.

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Deleuze and Guattari’s Symptomatology of Power: Paranoia as a Contagious Disease - PDF

by Dr. Jernej Markelj, Cardiff University

Abstract

This article engages with Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s Anti-Oedipus to analyse fascism as an illness closely linked to the functioning of power. Instead of examining it as a historical phase or an ideology, my symptomatologic approach diagnoses fascism by focusing on the interaction between the social and the biological. Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari, I explain how fascism, which they align with paranoia, arises when our unconscious vital processes are stalled by social forces. Substantiating the analysis with Deleuze’s account of Nietzsche, this article investigates three aspects of fascist paranoia. Firstly, I demonstrate how fascist tendencies are produced by our capitalist social formation. By paying close attention to the contact between the mental and the bodily domain, I then explain the psychosomatic nature of fascism. Finally, my examination offers an account of fascism’s contagious character.

Keywords: Deleuze and Guattari; Paranoia; Anti-Oedipus; Fascism; Nietzsche; Affective Contagion

Dr. Jernej Markelj is a researcher and teacher in Critical and Cultural Theory based at Cardiff University. His research navigates the intersection of affect theory, philosophy of technology, cybernetics, and digital culture, in order to investigate themes of contagion, addiction, and control.

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Primate Politics and the Cognitive Profile of a Proto-fascist Leader - PDF

by Bogdan Ianosev, Glasgow Caledonian University

Abstract

In this paper I will construct the likely cognitive profile of right-wing populist leaders with authoritarian tendencies. I will in order review disparate literatures on human and non-human primate leadership, the psychology of power and corruption, and the cognitive evolution of coalitional and political behaviour. Then, I will select the likely traits and features observed in right-wing populist leaders which can be plausibly traced back to hominin evolutionary history and discuss their application in current politics. I will further connect the resulting profile with current advances in populism scholarship, with the special mention of a certain ‘shamelessness’ and lack of etiquette which right-wing populist leaders employ in their attempt to maximize power for themselves and their coalition. To this end, I propose that such shamelessness has its origin in non-human primate domination dynamics and facilitates the cognitive appeal of right-wing populist leaders among politically disconnected and disgruntled voters. On the grounds of appearing honest by appealing to base intuitions shared by all humans and by dismissing political etiquette, primate populists build up their follower base by providing cognitively attractive content easily transmissible on available media technologies. Finally, I will argue that due to the ancestral hominin motivation for power and prestige, seconded by a lack of concern for institutional checks and balances, a right-wing populist leader, or proto-fascist, will seek to enhance their power if possible up to the point of authoritarianism. 

Key words: Cognition; populism; evolution; intuitions; primates.

Bogdan Ianoșev is a Ph.D. candidate at the Glasgow School for Business and Society, at Glasgow Caledonian University. He was previously awarded an MA in Philosophy from the University of Bucharest, as well as an MA in Cognitive Anthropology from Queen's University, Belfast. He presently works for the Democratic Efficacy and the Varieties of Populism in Europe (DEMOS) research project, as well as doing research into the cognitive & evolutionary underpinnings of populist discourse surrounding the Brexit referendum for his PhD thesis.

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Can Liberal Capitalism Survive? - PDF

by Dr. Mark Reiff, of the University of California Davis.

Abstract: For a long time, economic growth has been seen as the most promising source of funds to use toward reducing economic inequality, as well as a necessity if we are aiming at achieving full employment. But one of the most troubling aspects of the recent exponential rise in economic inequality is that this rise has occurred despite continued economic growth. Increases in national income have gone almost exclusively to the super-rich, while real wages for almost everybody else have stagnated or even declined. And while the unemployment rate dropped significantly before the coronavirus pandemic hit, good, permanent, high-wage jobs with benefits had by then often been replaced by temporary, part-time, low-wage jobs without benefits, leaving even the employed feeling economically insecure. And now, of course, unemployment is again skyrocketing, and it is unclear how long it might take to come down. As a result, we have now arrived at a point of reckoning: can we continue to believe that liberal capitalism is the most promising combination of economic and political ideologies for securing a prosperous and just future? If not, what might replace it? Is the problem capitalism, or is it liberalism? Are we up against economic forces that we cannot influence or control, or is it our political will and the liberal values that we endorse being tested? This paper looks at all these questions, and suggests how we might think about the prospects for a liberal future.

Keywords: Fascism; Populism; Democratic Socialism; Illiberalism; Schumpeter; Piketty; and Gordon

Dr. Reiff is a political, legal, and moral philosopher, whose main areas of interest include economic justice, liberalism and its critics, the law and ethics of war and warfare, the nature of causal and moral reasoning, and theories of punishment, compensation, and responsibility.

GCAS Media recently published a live interview with PhD Researcher Andrew P. Keltner and Dr. Reiff, found here; and magazine article describing more details of Dr. Reiff’s work, found here. Primate Politics and the Cognitive Profile of a Proto-fascist Leader - PDF