University News
WIU Professor Emeritus Brendan Maguire Publishes Book
February 13, 2025
MACOMB, IL - -Western Illinois University Professor Emeritus of Sociology Brendan Maguire published a book titled "A Sociological Analysis of Incipient Totalitarianism in the United States: Uncle Sam Meets Big Brother."
Maguire, who served as a faculty member in WIU's Department of Sociology and Anthropology from 1983 to 2006, has recently published a book with Routledge, a British multinational publisher. His book explores topics in politics, international relations and social sciences.
"The book uses George Orwell's famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four as a guide to understanding the core components of totalitarian rule. The book specifically examines the American state's response to terrorism, COVID-19 and climate change and in so doing identifies patterns of incipient totalitarianism in the United States," Maguire said.
Maguire's "A Sociological Analysis of Incipient Totalitarianism in the United States" advances an innovative sociological explanation of how totalitarian rule is embraced by the public when freedom, equality and justice are compromised. It offers a sociological explanation of how totalitarian government is operationalized from the macro level to the micro level and uses concepts associated with Marx (dominant ideas), Mead (generalized other) and Berger and Luckmann (recipe knowledge).
This is a scholarly book, but readily accessible to the general public. It complements Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and contributes significantly to public discourse.
For more information on the book, visit here.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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