Rethinking the Nature of Fascism Comparative Perspectives

Many of the foremost experts in the study of European fascism unite to provide a contemporary analysis of the theories and historiography of fascism. Essays discuss the most recent debates on the subject and how changes in the social sciences over the past forty years have impacted on the study of fascism from various perspectives.

ANTONIO COSTA PINTO is a Professor of Politics and Contemporary European History at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include fascism, authoritarianism, democratization and political elites. He is the author of The Blue Shirts: Portuguese Fascism in Inter-war Europe (2000), Charisma and Fascism in Inter-war Europe (2007), and Ruling Elites and Decision-making in Fascist-era Dictatorships (2009).

List of Illustrations
Foreword; S.G.Payne
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Fascism and the other '-isms'; A.Costa Pinto
PART I: FASCISM AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Decomposition and Recomposition of Theories: How to Arrive at Useful Ideas Explaining Fascism; S.U.Larsen
Desperately Seeking a 'Generic Fascism': Some Discordant Thoughts on the Academic Recycling of Indigenous Categories; M.Dobry
Fascism and Culture: A Mosse-Centric Meta-Narrative of how Fascist Studies Reinvented the Wheel; R.Griffin
PART II: NEW APPROACHES
Theories of Fascism: A Critique from the Perspective of Women's and Gender History; K.Passmore
Fascism and Religion; J.Pollard
Ideology, Propaganda, Violence and the Rise of Fascism; R.Eatwell
Political Violence and Institutional Crisis in Interwar Southern Europe; G.Albanese
Ruling Elites, Political Institutions and Decision-Making in Fascist-Era Dictatorships: Comparative Perspectives; A.Costa Pinto
Fascism, 'Licence' and Genocide: from the Chimera of Rebirth to the Authorization of Mass Murder; A.Kallis
Concluding Remarks; A.Lyttelton
Index