Corporate Totalitarianism: Freedom, Power and Technology in the Modern Era

Corporate Totalitarianism reflects on the changing nature of economic, political, and social power in the global context and the ways in which this affects both individual and society.

Inspired by the thought of Hannah Arendt and informed by Weber’s work on rationalisation and bureaucracy, the book shows how fear and alienation are used to generate compliance in the population, shedding light on the growing state capture by capital interests. With attention to the manner in which propaganda, censorship, and surveillance are being used to monitor and disrupt dissenters through the exploitation of technology, the author considers not only the potential use and misuse of technology to enforce compliance but also its capacity to challenge corruption and protect human rights, with decentralised ledgers and blockchain technology currently offering the possibility of increased transparency, accountability, and trust in a variety of domains.

An engaging study of the growth of power and control in contemporary societies, this book will appeal to scholars of social theory and political sociology with interests in the surveillance state and the social role of technology.

Rowena Slope is Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing at Bournemouth University, UK and the author of Care in the Iron Cage: A Weberian Analysis of Failings in Care.