In what conditions are bureaucracies abused for totalitarian or fascist ends?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v12i4.5611Keywords:
bureaucracy, totalitarianism, fascism, state of exception, authoritarian type, TaylorismAbstract
This paper is going to assess conditions that allow for bureaucracy to be used for totalitarian or fascist ends. It will determine that some intrinsic traits of bureaucracy are inherently problematic because they facilitate for the system to get abused (for fascist ends). That is because, for instance, by nature bureaucracy dehumanizes people and separates one's private life from one's professional life. Moreover, the system does not allow for individual moral reflection (on the part of the workers), and it lacks the mechanism of individual responsibility. If they existed in a bureaucracy, the aforementioned factors would act as "checks" if the system started getting abused. However, there are several external conditions that allow for bureaucracies to get exploited - the presence of the "manipulative" and "authoritarian" type among the executors of actions as well as the implementation of the state of exception on the part of the government.
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