The birth of fascist ideology : from cultural rebellion to political revolution

When The Birth Of Fascist Ideology Was First Published In 1989 In France And At The Beginning Of 1993 In Italy, It Aroused A Storm Of Response, Positive And Negative, To Zeev Sternhell's Controversial Interpretations. In Sternhell's View, Fascism Was Much More Than An Episode In The History Of Italy. He Argues Here That It Possessed A Coherent Ideology With Deep Roots In European Civilization. Long Before Fascism Became A Political Force, He Maintains, It Was A Major Cultural Phenomenon. This Important Book Further Asserts That Although Fascist Ideology Was Grounded In A Revolt Against The Enlightenment, It Was Not A Reactionary Movement. It Represented, Instead, An Ideological Alternative To Marxism And Liberalism And Competed Effectively With Them By Positing A Revolt Against Modernity. Sternhell Argues That The Conceptual Framework Of Fascism Played An Important Role In Its Development. Building On Radical Nationalism And An Antimaterialist Revision Of Marxism, Fascism Sought To Destroy The Existing Political Order And To Uproot Its Theoretical And Moral Foundations. At The Same Time, Its Proponents Wished To Preserve All The Achievements Of Modern Technology And The Advantages Of The Market Economy. Nevertheless, Fascism Opposed Every Bourgeois Value: Universalism, Humanism, Progress, Natural Rights, And Equality. Thus, As Sternhell Shows, The Fascists Adopted The Economic Aspect Of Liberalism But Completely Denied Its Philosophical Principles And The Intellectual And Moral Heritage Of Modernity. Introduction: Fascism As An Alternative Political Culture -- Georges Sorel And The Antimaterialist Revision Of Marxism -- Revolutionary Revisionism In France -- Revolutionary Syndicalism In Italy -- The Socialist-national Synthesis -- The Mussolini Crossroads : From The Critiuw Of Marxism To National Socialism And Fascism -- Epilogue: From A Cultural Rebellion To A Political Revolution. Zeev Sternhell, With Mario Sznajder And Maia Asheri ; Translated By David Maisel. Includes Bibliographical References (p.[315]-325) And Index. 9780691032894 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: Fascism as an Alternative Political Culture 14 Chapter One: Georges Sorel and the Antimaterialist Revision of Marxism 47 The Foundations of the "Correction" of Marxism 47 Antirationalism and Activism: The Social Myths 66 Anti-Cartesianism and Pessimism 82 The Junction of Sorelianism and Nationalism 89 Chapter Two: Revolutionary Revisionism in France 103 The "New School" 103 Applied Sorelianism 110 The Emergence of Socialist Nationalism 129 Chapter Three: Revolutionary Syndicalism in Italy 142 Twenty Years: 1902-1922 142 The Primacy of Economics and the Revision of Marxist Economic Doctrine 154 Sorel, the Mobilizing Myth of the Revolutionary General Strike, and the Lessons of Reality 163 Chapter Four: The Socialist-National Synthesis 171 The Myth of the Revolutionary War 171 From the Libyan War to the Interventionism of the Left: The Imperialism of the Workers, the Syndicate, and the Nation 174 National Syndicalism, the Productionist Solution, and the Program of Partial Expropriation 188 From the Carta del Carnaro to Fascist Syndicalism 197 Chapter Five: The Mussolini Crossroads: From the Critique of Marxism to National Socialism and Fascism 206 Within the Orbit of Revolutionary Syndicalism 206 The Intellectual Realignment of a Socialist Militant 217 National Socialism 226 The State and Dictatorship: From National Socialism to Fascism 238 Epilogue: From a Cultural Rebellion to a Political Revolution 244 Notes 270 Bibliography 326 Index 326 A 338 B 338 C 339 D 339 E 340 F 341 G 341 H 341 I 342 J 342 K 342 L 342 M 343 N 344 O 345 P 345 Q 346 R 346 S 347 T 348 U 348 V 349 W 349 Y 349 Z 349 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Introduction: Fascism as an Alternative Political Culture......Page 14 The Foundations of the "Correction" of Marxism......Page 47 Antirationalism and Activism: The Social Myths......Page 66 Anti-Cartesianism and Pessimism......Page 82 The Junction of Sorelianism and Nationalism......Page 89 The "New School"......Page 103 Applied Sorelianism......Page 110 The Emergence of Socialist Nationalism......Page 129 Twenty Years: 1902-1922......Page 142 The Primacy of Economics and the Revision of Marxist Economic Doctrine......Page 154 Sorel, the Mobilizing Myth of the Revolutionary General Strike, and the Lessons of Reality......Page 163 The Myth of the Revolutionary War......Page 171 From the Libyan War to the Interventionism of the Left: The Imperialism of the Workers, the Syndicate, and the Nation......Page 174 National Syndicalism, the Productionist Solution, and the Program of Partial Expropriation......Page 188 From the Carta del Carnaro to Fascist Syndicalism......Page 197 Within the Orbit of Revolutionary Syndicalism......Page 206 The Intellectual Realignment of a Socialist Militant......Page 217 National Socialism......Page 226 The State and Dictatorship: From National Socialism to Fascism......Page 238 Epilogue: From a Cultural Rebellion to a Political Revolution......Page 244 Notes......Page 270 Index......Page 326 B......Page 338 D......Page 339 E......Page 340 H......Page 341 L......Page 342 M......Page 343 N......Page 344 P......Page 345 R......Page 346 S......Page 347 U......Page 348 Z......Page 349 When The Birth of Fascist Ideology was first published in 1989 in France and in 1993 in Italy, it aroused a storm of response, both positive and negative. In Sternhell's view, fascism was much more than an episode in the history of Italy. He argues here that it possessed a coherent ideology with deep roots in European civilization. Long before fascism became a political force, he maintains, it was a major cultural phenomenon. When The Birth of Fascist Ideology was first published in 1989 in France and in 1993 in Italy, it aroused a storm of response, both positive and negative. In Sternhell's view, fascism was much more than an episode in the history of Italy. He argues here that it possessed a coherent ideology with deep roots in European civilization. Long before fascism became a political force, he maintains, it was a major cultural phenomenon.

when The Birth Of Fascist Ideology Was First Published In 1989 In France And In 1993 In Italy, It Aroused A Storm Of Response, Both Positive And Negative. In Sternhell's View, Fascism Was Much More Than An Episode In The History Of Italy. He Argues Here That It Possessed A Coherent Ideology With Deep Roots In European Civilization. Long Before Fascism Became A Political Force, He Maintains, It Was A Major Cultural Phenomenon.

eugen Weber - The New York Times Book Review

[this Book] Deserves To Be Read And, Whatever One's Reservations, To Be Considered Seriously...[it] Rectifies The Stereotyped And Narrowly Derogatory Image Of A Movement That Was As Representative And Influential As Its More Acceptable Contemporaries, And More Original Than Many.