Less than a century old, the concept of totalitarianism is one of the most controversial in political theory, with some proposing to abandon it altogether. In this accessible, wide-ranging introduction, David Roberts addresses the grounds for skepticism and shows that appropriately recast—as an aspiration and direction, rather than a system of domination—totalitarianism is essential for understanding the modern political universe. Surveying the career of the concept from the 1920s to today, Roberts shows how it might better be applied to the three ""classic"" regimes of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and the Stalinist Soviet Union. Extending totalitarianism's reach into the twenty-first century, he then examines how Communist China, Vladimir Putin's Russia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), and the threat of the technological "surveillance state" can be conceptualized in the totalitarian tradition. Roberts shows that although the term has come to have overwhelmingly negative connotations, some have enthusiastically pursued a totalitarian direction—and not simply for power, control, or domination. This volume will be essential reading for any student, scholar or reader interested in how totalitarianism does, and could, shape our modern political world.
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Totalitarianism
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1
Why
Should
We
Care
about
Totalitarianism?
A
new
political
phenomenon
Coined
by
an
Italian
anti-fascist
in
1923,
the
term
“totali-
tarianism”
quickly
became
part
of
our
vocabulary,
and
the
concept
has
now
been
central
to
political
discussion
for
almost
a
century.
However,
it
has
long
been
one
of
the
most
uncertain
and
controversial
of
the
key
concepts
in
political
theory.
Some
critics
advocate
abandoning
it
altogether.
But
after
surveying
the
uses
that
have
been
made
of
the
category,
and
looking
again
at
the
most
prominent
cases,
this
book
will
argue
that
totalitarianism
remains
essential
to
understanding
the
modern
political
universe.
Still,
the
notion
has
often
been
misused
or
misconstrued,
so
we
need
a
deeper,
recast
under-
standing
of
what
totalitarianism
might
mean.
It
is
not
hard
to
explain
why
we
should
care
about
the
political
phenomena
most
frequently
labeled
totalitarian,
starting
with
three
novel
experiments
that
emerged
in
Europe
in
the
wake
of
World
War
I.
These
were
the
fascist
regime
in
Italy,
the
Nazi
regime
in
Germany,
and
the
communist
regime
in
the
Soviet
Union,
especially
as
it
settled
out
the
1930s
under
Joseph
Stalin.
They
were
not
only
new
but
largely
unanticipated,
though
in
retrospect
we
can
see
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Contents
- 1 Why Should We Care about Totalitarianism?
- 2 The Career of a Concept
- 3 Totalitarian Trajectories During the Era of the Two World Wars
- 4 Movements and Regimes Since World War II
- 5 The Future of Totalitarianism
- Notes
- Index
- EULA
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Yes, you can access Totalitarianism by David D. Roberts in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Philosophy & Political Philosophy. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.