Giuseppe Mazzini and the Origins of Fascism

Abstract

Scope and content: "In this controversial and groundbreaking study, Simon Levis Sullam proposes a compelling reinterpretation of the political thought of one Italy's founding fathers, Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), and suggests a new approach to understanding the origins of fascist ideology. Specifically, he sheds much-needed light on the continuity between nineteenth-century Italian nationalism and fascism. By providing for the first time an in-depth analysis of the religious aspects of Mazzini's nationalism (which has generally been categorized by historians as liberal and democratic), Sullam identifies its authoritarian and potentially anti-democratic components and trace their influence on the rise of conservative and fascist politics in Italy. As he demonstrates, the absence of a civil religion from the process of Italian national identity formation, in concert with the Risorgimento's relatively weak democratic tradition, was a critical factor in the evolution of right-wing ideology in the nation"-- Scope and content: "The book traces the origins and nature of Giuseppe Mazzini's nationalism showing its authoritarian components such as the centrality of God and the use of an irrational political style. It traces Mazzini's legacy in united Italy, showing how Fascism appropriated Mazzinianism for political purposes, while antifascism considered Mazzini a hero, but rejected his political thought"-- Introduction: The Appropriation of Mazzini and the Crisis of Italian Democracy -- 1. Giuseppe Mazzini and the Religion of the Nation -- 2. From Poetry to Prose -- 3. Mazzini in the New Century -- 4. The Nation's Duties between War and Postwar -- 5. Fascism, Anti-Fascism, and the Religion of the Nation -- Conclusion: A Religion of the Nation without a Civil Religion -- Afterword: Mazzini, the Risorgimento, and the Origins of Fascism.