On the Psychodynamics of Organizational Totalitarianism

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Abstract
A theory of organizational totalitarianism is developed, based on Freud's concept of narcissism and his theory of the "ego ideal" (1921/ 1955, 191411957) Klein's (1948) theory of "splitting" and Shorris' (1981) thinking concerning the totalitarian aspects of the corporation. The idea of a perfect organization, referred to here as the "organization ideal," is a symbol that represents the return to narcissism-to being the center of a loving world. Since the return to narcissism is impossible, committed participants in the totalitarian organization maintain a belief in the organization ideal by believing that its attainment is achieved by progress through the organization's hierarchy. This requires commitment to the belief that individuals more advanced in the hierarchy represent the organization ideal. This turns organizational process into the living out of the narcissistic fantasies of those in power. Consequences of this are passivity and slavishness, shamefulness, cynicism, loneliness and the loss of the psychological gains that could otherwise come from socially useful work. The problems of American industry may be partly due to totalitarian processes and present attempts at management through culture may be a further stage of the disease.