Leadership and Loyalty / Führung und Gefolgschaft
Management in National Socialism and in Democracy
An incisive analysis of the dark, illiberal roots of modern conceptions of management and leadership
Modern management models exhibit surprising parallels with the ideals of national socialism. In his new book, sociologist Stefan Kühl argues that these similarities are not a result of the fact that many of the key figures from the Nazi regime went on to shape the development of West German society. Indeed, many of the prominent national socialists who had a major influence on the leadership discourse of the postwar era in Germany went to great pains to avoid connections with Nazi ideology....
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Modern management models exhibit surprising parallels with the ideals of national socialism. In his new book, sociologist Stefan Kühl argues that these similarities are not a result of the fact that many of the key figures from the Nazi regime went on to shape the development of West German society. Indeed, many of the prominent national socialists who had a major influence on the leadership discourse of the postwar era in Germany went to great pains to avoid connections with Nazi ideology. To be sure, today’s proponents of the innate value of having a clear purpose and function, of fostering a strong sense of community, and of transformational leadership have no sympathy for the notion of the nation as a racially homogeneous community. However, they ignore the roots of some of the central principles of management, and fail to recognise how emphatically they are promoting concepts that were previously propagated by national socialists.
»[An] outstanding and highly readable work.« Jochen Zenthöfer, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
»This book teaches us not only that supposedly simple histories are sometimes actually quite complicated. But also that management theories are sometimes subjugated to a logic that has little to do with running a business and a lot to do with history and politics.« Thomas Steinfeld, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»In the sophistication of its argument, Stefan Kühl’s book is extremely enlightening.« Jens Balzer, Deutschlandfunk
»This book teaches us not only that supposedly simple histories are sometimes actually quite complicated. But also that management theories are sometimes subjugated to a logic that has little to do with running a business and a lot to do with history and politics.« Thomas Steinfeld, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»In the sophistication of its argument, Stefan Kühl’s book is extremely enlightening.« Jens Balzer, Deutschlandfunk
»[An] outstanding and highly readable work.« Jochen Zenthöfer, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
»This book teaches us not only that supposedly simple histories are sometimes actually quite complicated. But also that management theories are sometimes subjugated to a logic that has little to do with running a business and a lot to do with history and politics.« Thomas Steinfeld, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»In the sophistication of its argument, Stefan Kühl’s book is...
»This book teaches us not only that supposedly simple histories are sometimes actually quite complicated. But also that management theories are sometimes subjugated to a logic that has little to do with running a business and a lot to do with history and politics.« Thomas Steinfeld, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»In the sophistication of its argument, Stefan Kühl’s book is...
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2025, 265 pages
Persons
Stefan Kühl
Author
Stefan Kühl studied sociology and history at the University of Bielefeld in Germany, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the Université Paris X Nanterre and Oxford University. He has held positions at the University of Magdeburg, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Helmut Schmidt University – University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg. He is currently a professor of Sociology at the University of Bielefeld.
Stefan Kühl
Author
Stefan Kühl studied sociology and history at the University of Bielefeld in Germany, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the...
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Latest first
Year of Publication: 2014
Stefan KühlYear of Publication: 2014
Ordinary Organizations
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English world rights (Polity), Japan (Jimbun Shoin)