[marron]Summary[/marron]

The well knowed Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman highlights a core value in investigations of Stanley Milgram: the demonstration that cruel acts are committed by individuals not cruel, but common subjects trying to succeed in their normal duties. Cruelty has little to do with the psychological characteristics of those who carry it out, but does have a strong link with the relationship of authority and subordination, ie normal, everyday power structures and obedience. This article discusses the coordinates that explain such submission to authority: 1) social distance, 2) the sequential action paradox, 3) the moralization of technology; 4) unfunded liability, 5) the concentration of power.