FROM FREEDOM TO FEAR. CONFORMISM AND LOGIC OF POWER
Keywords:
hegemonist discourse, the perspective of contemporary sociology, the coincidence of ideologyAbstract
The hegemonist discourse imposed by the ruling political class of the United States since September 2001 is guided by a vision which defines the objects, methods and reasons of its political behavior on a global scale in accordance with two strategic aims: first, to guarantee its economic, political and military supremacy, and, second, to justify it and its consequences with the help of an aggressive religious fundamentalism merged with the declarations of political principles. Based on the works of John Dewey, Erich Fromm, David Riesman, Herbert Marcuse and others, and from the perspective of contemporary sociology, such as that of Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck, Richard Sennett, Christopher Lasch etc., this article analyses the coincidence of this ideology defended by US–ultraconservatives with the strategic interests of globalized capitalism. It emphasizes the peculiar function of the manipulation of public opinion and the intentional production of fear as instruments for the purpose of submitting public consciousness to the dominant interests, generating a generalized and diffuse psychological disposition towards a diminution of the ego and towards conformity with the ruling power–elites, and producing distrust in democracy, characteristics of the authoritarian personality. It is an attempt to analyze the actual trends of destruction of the “social character” in “postmodern” societies and the upcoming of a new kind of irrationalism.
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