The rebel’s pseudo-revolt was a search for new authority, not genuine defiance

Evidence

First, as mentioned before, the Institut was impressed with Erikson’s picture of the German family, in which the father lacked true inner authority. The pseudo-revolt of what Fromm had called the “rebel” was in fact a search for a new authority, produced in part by the absence of a positive authority model at home. This was a syn drome that The Authoritarian Personality certainly acknowledged, giving it a prominent place in Adorno’s analysis of “high” character types. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 747

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies Fromm’s ‘rebel’ category — rebellion as authority-seeking rather than autonomy.
• XREF: Erickson’s weaker-father hypothesis is a vivid parallel to how moral-panic literatures describe anxious authority-seeking. — connects to: Pseudo-rebellions just substitute one irrational authority for another. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 421; Military obedience can mask a private rebellion against authority itself — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 258; Gesture and claimed rebellion do not constitute genuine freedom. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 272

Broader Connections

• Military obedience can mask a private rebellion against authority itself #expands (0.85) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 258
• Gesture and claimed rebellion do not constitute genuine freedom. #expands (0.82) — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 272