From Harvard to Berlin: Conformity, Self-Righteous Ideology and False Dichotomies Following Along or Bucking the System

• In Event: 20861 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 13: Right-wing and Conservative Movements

Abstract

My main purpose in writing this article is not to have a philosophical discussion with the politically left or right, but to shed light on why so many individuals would wed themselves to an Orwellian vision of America and the world to such an unhelpful ideology that is at its core racist, antisemitic, limited in scope (being binary) and perpetuating victimhood which is claimed to be historically conditioned and structurally inherent disadvantage on so many people. Subjective, emotional ridden, anti-empirical it denies any progress made by Western civilization which it regards as powerful white men who are colonial exploiters of people of color and must be destroyed. They call for social justice; yet revenge rather than reform seems to be a major motivation on their agenda. This paper’s intended task is to bring into focus the sociological and psychological and political characteristics to mass movements unveiled from contemporary protests on college campuses as well as uncovering the phenomena of the epitome of mass movements – the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. As the title implies, I am attempting to develop a narrative or an analysis of seemingly unrelated events; and yet, a pattern has emerged that a few seem to have the language to say we abhor, reject, repudiate, and hold accountable all political violence leading to genocide.
The aim of this paper is to explain why people go along and participate in actions ranging from vandalism and destructive behavior in the streets, to the compliant policy of the college president at Harvard University, one of several universities, unable or unwilling to call out genocide against Jews as being unacceptable. How is this so? Are the cultural convictions and beliefs of nation at a particular time in its history having a dominant impact on human behavior and decision making or the free will determined by the individual’s moral, ethical, subjective socialization experiences and sense of responsibility?

Author

• Les Abrams, Hofstra University