Hans Maier (ed.)

Totalitarianism and Political Religions, Volume 1

Concepts for the Comparison of Dictatorships
Herausgeber: Maier, Hans

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

We are used to distinguishing the despotic regimes of the twentieth century -- Communism, Fascism, Nat ional Socialism, Maoism -- very precisely according to place and time, origins and influences. But what should we call that which they have in common? On this question, there has been and remains a passionate debate. Indeed, the question seemed for a long time not even to be admissible. Clearly, this state of affairs is unsatisfactory. The debate has been renewed in the past few years. After the collapse of the Communist systems in Central, East and Southern Europe, a -- scarcely surveyable -- mass of archival material has become available. Following the lead of Fascism and National Socialism, communist and socialist regimes throughout the world now belong to the historical past as well. This leads to the resumption of old questions: what place do the modern despotisms assume in the history of the twentieth century? What is their relation to one another? Should they be captured using traditional concepts -- autocracy, tyranny, despotism, dictatorship -- or are new concepts required? This book documents the first international conference on this theme, a conference that took place in September of 1994 at the University of Munich. The book shows how new models by which to understand political history arose from the experience of modern despotic regimes. Here, the most important concepts -- totalitarianism and political religions -- are discussed and tested in terms of their usefulness.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis
• Seitenzahl: 428
• Erscheinungstermin: 14. Oktober 2004
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 234mm x 161mm x 24mm
• Gewicht: 640g
• ISBN-13: 9780714685298
• ISBN-10: 0714685291
• Artikelnr.: 21827823

Autorenporträt

Hans Maier, born on June 18, 1931 in Freiburg in Breisgau, is Emeritus Professor for Political Science and the Theory of Religion at the University of Munich. He was the Bavarian Minister of Culture and Science from 1970 to 1986 and President of the Central Committee of German Catholics from 1976 to 1986. Major publications include Revolution und Kirche (1959), in English, Revolution and Church: The Early History of Christian Democracy, 1789-1901 (London: University of Notre Dame Press, 1969). Also Die ältere deutsch Staats- und Verwaltungslehre (1966), Die christliche Zeitrechnung (1991), Politische Religionen (1995) and Welt ohne Christentum - was wäre anders? (1999).

Inhaltsangabe

Part 1: Totalitarianism 1. The History of the Concept of Totalitarianism in
Italy 2. Luigi Sturzo as a Theorist of Totalitarianism 3. Waldemar Gurian
and the Development of the Concept of Totalitarianism 4. Reflections on
Russian Totalitarianism 5. Natural Science in the Soviet Union under
Totalitarian Conditions at the Beginning of the 1930s 6. The Other Side of
Totalitarianism: The state of the debate in Hungary 7. A Glance at the
History and Present of the Bohemian Countries Part 2: Political Religions
8. The Religious Use of Politics and/or the Political Use of Religion:
Ersatz ideology versus ersatz religion 9 . Terror and Salvation: Experience
of Political Events in the Work of Romano Guardini 10. The Concept of
'Political Religions' in the Thought of Eric Voegelin 11. The Modern
Despotic Regime and Literature Part 3: General Discussion 12. Concepts for
the Comparison of Dictatorships: 'Totalitarianism' and 'political
religions' 13. Totalitarianism in Eastern Europe and its Consequences: A
theoretical perspective 14. Despotism, Ersatz Religion, Religious Ersatz
15. Reflections on Future Totalitarianism Research 16. The Historicity of
Totalitarianism: George Orwell's evidence Part 4: Research Contributions
17. Totalitarianism as a Twentieth-Century Phenomenon 18. National
Socialism, Fascism and Authoritarian Regimes 19. Religious and
Ecclesiastical Structures in Communism and National Socialism, and the Role
of the Writer 20. Enlightenment and Terror: Historico-metaphysical
prerequisites of totalitarian democracy 21. On Marxism, Christianity and
Totalitarianism