1st Edition
A Sociological Analysis of Incipient Totalitarianism in the United States Uncle Sam Meets Big Brother
Acknowledgements
1. Big Brother Sightings
Main Features of Totalitarianism
“Totalitarianism” in the United States
Methods of Control
Force/Coercion
Values
Information
Communication
Method and Theory
Preview
2. The Man and The Book
Early Years
Experiences Top and Bottom
Marriage, Name Change, and War
The Writer
Major Works
Writing Philosophy and Motivations
Personality
The Book: Nineteen Eighty-Four
Influences
Cast of Characters
Plot
Terminology
Preview
3. Terrorism, COVID-19, Climate Change
Terrorism
The Bush Response
Big Brother’s Heavy Hand
Scientific Protocol
Mertonian Norms
Popper’s Falsification Standard
COVID-19
The Trump Response
Big Brother’s Heavy Hand
Climate Change
Climate Skeptics
Resistance to Climate Change Policies
Big Brother’s Heavy Hand on Climate Change
Caveat Emptor and the Enlightenment
4. Sociology of Totalitarianism
Writings on Totalitarianism
Early Work
Recent Explanations
Totalitarian Culture
Who Rules?
Executive Orders
Law Creation
Leviathan
Macro to Micro Connection
Socialization
Social Things Matter
The Generalized Other
The President as Generalized Other
Recipe Knowledge
Group Think
5. Might Janus Smile?
The Importance of Moral Community
It Takes a Village: Clinton and Durkheim
Freedom, Equality, and Justice
Freedom
Equality
Justice
Busy Intersection
Omaha, Omaha, Omaha
6. Conclusion
Biography
Brendan Maguire is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Western Illinois University. He is the co-author of Introduction to Criminology (1999), and he has published numerous articles in Sociological Focus, The Social Science Journal, and the Journal of Applied Sociology.
"This book is a valiant attempt to provide an even-handed account of the current forms of political control of discourse and information – forms familiar from Orwell, but which have re-emerged in the face of political polarization."
Stephen Turner, Distinguished University Professor, University of South Florida
"We are certainly living in an Orwellian moment. The book has the potential to make an important contribution to understanding this political movement and may even work to protect democracy."
Anna M. Bounds, Associate Professor of Sociology, Queens College
"This book makes an important contribution to the subject. Disinformation and the possibility of America becoming autocratic is very urgent. It speaks decidedly to the Orwellian moment."
Joseph Scimecca, Professor of Sociology, George Mason University
