Roger Griffin – författare

Fascism as a political ideology is a product of the modern age. It is an ideology which has been identified with totalitarianism, state terror, social engineering, fanaticism, orchestrated violence, and blind obedience. Yet once again fascism is in the ascendant, suggesting that it is time for us to renew our understanding of its ideas, ideals, and inhumanities.What is fascism? Why does it still hold such strong appeal? Why does it create charismatic and dangerous movements? To what may these lead?This Reader offers a wide selection of texts written by fascist thinkers and propagandists both inside and outside Europe, before and after the Second World War. There are extracts on fascism in Italy and Germany, on the abortive pre-1945 fascisms, on reactions to fascism, and on post-war and contemporary fascism. With contributions from writers as diverse as Benito Mussolini and Primo Levi, Joseph Goebbels and George Orwell, this Reader provides a fascinating insight into the depths and breadths of fascism, prompting the student and general reader alike to give greater consideration to this expanding political force.

This reader focuses on the definition and ideology of generic fascism, bringing together articles, essays, and political writings by several key figures to lay 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. In both his introduction and his editorial commentary Griffin locates the driving force behind all fascist movements in a distinctive utopian myth, that of the regenerated national community, destined to rise up from the ashes of a decadent society.

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.

9/11 and its aftermath demonstrate the urgent need for political scientists and historians to unravel the tangled relationship of secular ideologies and organized religions to political fanaticism.This major new volume uses a series of case studies by world experts to further our understanding of these complex issues. They examine the connections between fascism, political religion and totalitarianism by exploring two inter-war fascist regimes, two abortive European movements, and two post-war American extreme right-wing movements with contrasting religious components.A highlight of this collection is a fresh article from Emilio Gentile, recently awarded an international prize for his contributions to our appreciation of the central role played by political religion in the modern age. This is preceded by an editorial essay by Roger Griffin, one of fascist studies' most original thinkers.Alongside these contributions the reader is presented with a wealth of work that redefines the complex concept of 'totalitarian movement' and our understanding of generic Fascism. Taken as a whole, it comprehensively analyses the links between particular totalitarian movements and regimes and the concrete historical phenomena produced in the light of current, radical theories of fascism, totalitarianism and political religion.This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of international relations, politics and contemporary history. This volume was previously published as a special issue of the journal Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions.

9/11 and its aftermath demonstrate the urgent need for political scientists and historians to unravel the tangled relationship of secular ideologies and organized religions to political fanaticism.This major new volume uses a series of case studies by world experts to further our understanding of these complex issues. They examine the connections between fascism, political religion and totalitarianism by exploring two inter-war fascist regimes, two abortive European movements, and two post-war American extreme right-wing movements with contrasting religious components.A highlight of this collection is a fresh article from Emilio Gentile, recently awarded an international prize for his contributions to our appreciation of the central role played by political religion in the modern age. This is preceded by an editorial essay by Roger Griffin, one of fascist studies' most original thinkers.Alongside these contributions the reader is presented with a wealth of work that redefines the complex concept of 'totalitarian movement' and our understanding of generic Fascism. Taken as a whole, it comprehensively analyses the links between particular totalitarian movements and regimes and the concrete historical phenomena produced in the light of current, radical theories of fascism, totalitarianism and political religion.This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of international relations, politics and contemporary history. This volume was previously published as a special issue of the journal Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions.

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.

The word ‘fascism’ sometimes appears to have become a catch-all term of abuse, applicable to anyone on the political right, from Hitler to Donald Trump and from Putin to Thatcher. While some argue that it lacks any distinctive conceptual meaning at all, others have supplied highly elaborate definitions of its ‘essential’ features. It is therefore a concept that presents unique challenges for any student of political theory or history.In this accessible book, Roger Griffin, one of the world’s leading authorities on fascism, brings welcome clarity to this controversial ideology. He examines its origins and development as a political concept, from its historical beginnings in 1920s Italy up to the present day, and guides students through the confusing maze of debates surrounding the nature, definition and meaning of fascism. Elucidating with skill and precision its dynamic as a utopian ideology of national/racial rebirth, Griffin goes on to examine its post-Second World War mutations and its relevance to understanding contemporary right-wing political phenomena, ranging from Marine Le Pen to Golden Dawn. This concise and engaging volume will be of great interest to all students of political theory, the history of political thought, and modern history.

The word ‘fascism’ sometimes appears to have become a catch-all term of abuse, applicable to anyone on the political right, from Hitler to Donald Trump and from Putin to Thatcher. While some argue that it lacks any distinctive conceptual meaning at all, others have supplied highly elaborate definitions of its ‘essential’ features. It is therefore a concept that presents unique challenges for any student of political theory or history.In this accessible book, Roger Griffin, one of the world’s leading authorities on fascism, brings welcome clarity to this controversial ideology. He examines its origins and development as a political concept, from its historical beginnings in 1920s Italy up to the present day, and guides students through the confusing maze of debates surrounding the nature, definition and meaning of fascism. Elucidating with skill and precision its dynamic as a utopian ideology of national/racial rebirth, Griffin goes on to examine its post-Second World War mutations and its relevance to understanding contemporary right-wing political phenomena, ranging from Marine Le Pen to Golden Dawn. This concise and engaging volume will be of great interest to all students of political theory, the history of political thought, and modern history.

David Bowie's career is defined by the 70s, his golden years. This book chronicles Bowie's creative life during that decade in a year by year, month by month, day by day format, placing his works in their historical, personal and creative contexts.

The book explores the intimate connection between poetry and politics in modernity and, in particular, in liberal and fascist Italy. Through a historical and interdisciplinary approach, the essays focus on various fundamental passages of liberal system crisis: political poetry as an act of rebellion against the social and economic system; as a tool of disintegration of bourgeois morality and civilization; as a pillar of the building and consolidation of the fascist regime; as a central instrument of the myth of the 'new man'. What emerges is a mosaic capable of enlightening the values and disvalues and the transformation of Italian radical and nationalist mindset, through the elimination of the boundaries between ‘matter’ and ‘spirit’ and between different disciplines: as in the liberal period, political poetry deals with new issues such as Time, Space, and the Body, so in the totalitarian Fascist culture integrates and contaminates other aesthetic forms: theatre, dance, architecture