The Nature of Fascism Revisited (EEM Social Science Monographs)

Leading experts review the theory and historiography of fascism, discussing how developments within the social sciences have changed research practices and how genocide, religion, ideology, political violence, and gender work withing the study's framework. Fascism continues to fascinate scholars within the social sciences, perhaps as much as communism, that other great non-democratic'-ism' of the 20th century. Moreover, the already voluminous academic literature on contemporary dictatorships often returns to the fascist and dictatorial regimes of the interwar period.In recent years the social science literature has returned to the question of the factors leading to the survival or downfall of the dictatorships and dictators: the construction of legitimacy, the regimes' capacity to distribute resources, divisions within the power coalitions, the political institutions of the dictatorships, their capacity for survival and the cost-benefit analysis of rebellion. On the other hand, the survival (and appearance) of several dictatorships after the end of the Cold War and, particularly, the increasing complexity of their institutions, has led to a new field of study into the hybrid nature of many contemporary political regimes that were already present in the political landscape of the 'era of fascism'. This series of essays by António Costa Pinto are symbolic of a 'new institutionalist' turn in the study of fascism, reassessing its previously neglected dimensions, such as decision-making, or nominally democratic institutions, such as legislatures and parties, which are typically integral to a dictatorial regime. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 2 Title - complete......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 List of Figures and Tables......Page 10 Preface and acknowledgements......Page 12 1 - Fascists: A 'revolutionary right' in interwar Europe......Page 20 2 - The origins of fascist ideology: the sternhell debate......Page 48 3 - New interpretations (I): The constituencies of fascism......Page 66 4 - New interpretations (II): Conceptual problems......Page 82 5. Fascism, dictators, and charisma......Page 98 6. Ruling elites, political institutions, and decision-making in fascist-era dictatorships: Comparative perspectives......Page 108 7. Fascism, corporatism, and authoritarian institutions in interwar European dictatorships......Page 138 Index......Page 170 The number of dictatorships has expanded so much since the Second World War that it is perhaps time to update our analytical tools in the light of the great variety of regimes and their 'universals'. In fact, it may be tune to use the comparative method seriously, leading to the methodological normalisation of these phenomena. 'This series of essays by Antonio Costa pinto are symbol of a new institutionalist' turn in the study of fascism, reassessing its previously neglected dimensions, such as decision-making, or nominally democratic institutions, such as legislatures and parties, which are typically integral to a dictatorial regime.--Résumé de l'éditeur The comparative study of European Fascism, whether as a movement or as a form of political regime, has undergone a remarkable empirical development, albeit with important conceptual limitations. Today we have at our disposal a significant number of monographs and comparative studies on interwar fascist movements, even although the fluidity of the radical right during that period has at times lead to the appearance of a classificatory 'essentialism' that is only interesting when operationalised.--Résumé de l'éditeur