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. 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.

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 critique of Marxism to national socialism and fascism From a cultural rebellion to a political revolution.