The monograph is dedicated to the fundamental ambivalence of authority and shows that the excesses of obedience and willingness to use violence in the 20th century were made possible by ties to authority, but that a blanket rejection of all authority must come to nothing. Using three case studies from the formative phase of authority research - the leadership style studies by Gestalt psychologist Kurt Lewin (1936/1939), the studies on authoritarian character by the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research (1929/1945) and Stanley Milgram's obedience studies (1961) - the scientific-empirical examination of the erosion and transformation of authority is unfolded. Their findings are still fundamental to authority research today. The book will also be available in open access upon publication.
