Authoritarianism

Class Description

Starting with an introduction to the current leading model of authoritarian personality and related research, we will examine how authoritarianism at the socio-political level emerges from the scale of individual personality – in other words: how “the personal is political and the political is personal”. This developing theory helps to understand and reliably predict the general course of the rise of fascist authoritarianism (even though specific details and timing may be as unpredictable as localized weather effects in Puget Sound in November). So far there have been very few, if any, surprises. Along the way, we will explore how each of us can maintain sanity (while staying informed) through nourishing courage to exercise personal freedom and creativity thus resisting authoritarian aggression and destructiveness -no matter what one’s position in society may be, or what one’s particular abilities and means allow. Modes of resistance take many forms. Before class starts I highly recommend beginning either The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer*, or Authoritarian Nightmare co-authored by John Dean (yes, that John Dean) and Bob Altemeyer. The other primary text concerns resistance: On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. (Buy extra copies to give to people you know – itself an act of resistance!) * The Authoritarians can be downloaded for free as either a PDF or ePub book at https://theauthoritarians.org/. There is also an audio version and it’s available in paperback for $9.74. “We were never more free than under the German occupation.” -Jean-Paul Sartre Mondays, 1:00 – 2:30 In Person: B2 Class Limit: 20