Infinite regress: The dialectic of narcissism in new authoritarianism

In contemporary debates within social theory, narcissism is understood either as a marker of postrepressive subjectivity beyond the old authoritarian character or as a persistent psychic mechanism underpinning both past and present authoritarian formations. This opposition obscures how distinct narcissistic dynamics can coexist within the same form of subjectivity, making it difficult to grasp what is historically specific about new authoritarian tendencies. Drawing on reconstructions of Fromm's, Adorno's, Horkheimer's, and Marcuse's readings of Freud, this article develops a dialectical account of the role of narcissism in contemporary authoritarian subjectivity. It argues that neoliberal capitalism sustains itself through two intertwined narcissistic fantasies of omnipotence: one of autonomous self-mastery, the other of libidinal plenitude. These mutually reinforcing yet unsustainable promises generate chronic frustration, resolved through identificatory attachments to figures who seem to embody both ideals. Two main forms of authority emerge: one aligned with neoliberal ideals of emotional authenticity and market success; the other openly repressive and exclusionary, while preserving those liberatory promises as selective entitlements. Neither the mere reoccurrence of the old repressive character nor the realization of a postrepressive subject, new authoritarianism enforces narcissistic fantasies of liberation through renewed forms of repression and punishment.