Synopses & Reviews
In The Nature of Fascism, Roger Griffin locates the driving force of fascism in a distinctive form of utopian myth--that of the regenerated national community, destined to rise up from the ashes of a decadent society. Griffin's analysis reveals the revolutionary thrust and inner coherence of fascism's basic ideological axioms, which have all too often been dismissed as simply reactionary, irrational, or nihilistic. At the same time, he demonstrates its failure as a blueprint for the creation of the New Order and New Man to which it aspires.
This comprehensive study, which draws on political, social and psychological theory, has been established among experts as one of the most important contributions to the understanding of generic fascism. Griffin examines the structural affinity which relates fascism to Nazism and to the myriad movements which surfaced in inter-war Europe and elsewhere, and traces the unabated proliferation of virulent, but successfully marginalized, fascist activism since 1945. Now available in paperback from Routledge, The Nature of Fascism has been revised to meet the needs of readers interested in the history and theory of fascist movements.
Synopsis
The Nature of Fascism draws on the history of ideas as well as on political, social and psychological theory to produce a synthesis of ideas and approaches that will be invaluable for students.
Roger Griffin locates the driving force of fascism in a distinctive form of utopian myth, that of the regenerated national community, destined to rise up from the ashes of a decadent society. He lays bare the structural affinity that relates fascism not only to Nazism, but to the many failed fascist movements that surfaced in inter-war Europe and elsewhere, and traces the unabated proliferation of virulent (but thus far successfully marginalized) fascist activism since 1945.