The Creation of 'The Authoritarian Personality': An Encounter of Four Scientific Cultures (Palgrave Critical Studies of Antisemitism and Racism)

This Palgrave Pivot presents a new account of the social and epistemic processes that led to the creation of The Authoritarian Personality (TAP), a classic of political psychology published in 1950, which has been cited frequently in recent literature on authoritarian political parties and movements.Studies of the intellectual migration of European scholars and scientists to the United States have recognized TAP as one of the most successful results of the multiple efforts by émigrés and their American colleagues to reflect on the wider implications of the Nazi takeover of power, as well as the issue of whether and why elements of Nazi racism and antisemitism existed in America.However, the work is generally treated as part of the history of the Frankfurt School, and discussion has centered on the contribution of Theodor W.Adorno, whose chapters encompass less than one-fourth of the volume.This narrow perspective largely ignores the intensive collaboration between the Institute of Soci