During the 20th century, Italy experienced some regrettable political developments. It was the first European nation after World War I in which a mass militia-party of revolutionary nationalism achieved power and abolished parliamentary democracy with the goal of building a totalitarian state. It was also the first in Europe to institutionalize the sacralization of politics and to celebrate officially the cult of the leader as a demi-God. These achievements were not accidents. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Italian nationalist movements, from the national radicalism of La Voce to...
During the 20th century, Italy experienced some regrettable political developments. It was the first European nation after World War I in which a m...
Emilio Gentile, an internationally renowned authority on fascism and totalitarianism, argues that politics over the past two centuries has often taken on the features of religion, claiming as its own the prerogative of defining the fundamental purpose and meaning of human life. Secular political entities such as the nation, the state, race, class, and the party became the focus of myths, rituals, and commandments and gradually became objects of faith, loyalty, and reverence.
Gentile examines this "sacralization of politics," as he defines it, both historically and theoretically,...
Emilio Gentile, an internationally renowned authority on fascism and totalitarianism, argues that politics over the past two centuries has often ta...
In God's Democracy, Emilio Gentile argues that the presidency of George W. Bush sought to alter the way religion functions in American political life. Prior to the events of 9/11, the national government operated under a civil religious regime that placed a sacred umbrella over the entire country and its leading political figures. American civil religion was not only an inclusive faith, but one that provided ample room for citizens with different politics and different world views. But in the wake of 9/11, President Bush used religion to differentiate Americans on partisan lines....
In God's Democracy, Emilio Gentile argues that the presidency of George W. Bush sought to alter the way religion functions in American polit...
La Grande Italia traces the history of the myth of the nation in Italy along the curve of its rise and fall throughout the twentieth century. Starting with the festivities for the fiftieth anniversary of the unification of Italy in 1911 and ending with the centennial celebrations of 1961, Emilio Gentile describes a dense sequence of events: from victorious Italian participation in World War I through the rise and triumph of Fascism to Italy's transition to a republic. Gentile's definition of "Italians" encompasses the whole range of political, cultural, and social actors: Liberals...
La Grande Italia traces the history of the myth of the nation in Italy along the curve of its rise and fall throughout the twentieth century. S...
This book presents an organic view of Benito Mussolini's youth as a radical Socialist. Because of his later career as the founder of fascism and of the first Fascist regime that set the tone for subsequent similar dictatorships, and the historical polemics regarding these developments, Mussolini's life before fascism has been neglected or distorted. The essays presented in this book will add another dimension to the interpretation of Mussolini's life in two ways: by making his activities as a revolutionary Socialist widely known and by presenting interpretations of the first phase of his...
This book presents an organic view of Benito Mussolini's youth as a radical Socialist. Because of his later career as the founder of fascism and of th...
